Trial reportCancer medicine2026
Analysis of Plasma Epstein-Barr Virus DNA and Clinical Outcomes to Pembrolizumab or Chemotherapy in Recurrent/Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Cancer in KEYNOTE-122.
Trial report in Cancer medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02611960 (A Two-arm, Open-label, Randomized Phase III Study of Pembrolizumab), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Two-arm, Open-label, Randomized Phase III Study of Pembrolizumab (MK-3475) Monotherapy Versus Standard Chemotherapy in Platinum Pre-treated, Recurrent or Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Cancer (NPC) (Keynote-122)
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Analysis of Plasma Epstein-Barr Virus DNA and Clinical Outcomes to Pembrolizumab or Chemotherapy in Recurrent/Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Cancer in KEYNOTE-122.Cancer medicine · 2026Trial
- The evolution of EBV DNA as a biomarker in nasopharyngeal carcinoma immunotherapy: a bibliometric and knowledge mapping analysis.Virology journal · 2026Article
- TME remodeling and clinical challenges of immune checkpoint blockade in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPlasma Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA has clinical utility for prognosis, recurrence, surveillance, and treatment response in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This exploratory analysis evaluated associations between plasma EBV DNA load and clinical outcomes in participants treated with pembrolizumab or chemotherapy in the phase 3 KEYNOTE-122 trial (NCT02611960).
methodsParticipants with platinum-pretreated, histologically confirmed, EBV-positive, recurrent/metastatic NPC were randomly assigned (1:1) to pembrolizumab 200 mg intravenously every 3 weeks (≤ 35 cycles) or standard of care (SOC; investigator's choice of capecitabine, gemcitabine, or docetaxel). Associations between baseline plasma EBV DNA load as a continuous variable and plasma EBV DNA fold change at cycle 2 day 1 (C2D1), with clinical outcomes (progression-free survival [PFS], overall survival [OS], and objective response rate [ORR]) were evaluated within each treatment arm. Nominal significance was prespecified at 0.05 for 1-sided p values.
resultsOf 228 treated participants, 215 (94.3%) had evaluable baseline plasma EBV DNA load data (pembrolizumab, 111; SOC, 104). Baseline plasma EBV DNA load was negatively associated with PFS and OS for pembrolizumab and SOC (both p < 0.005) but not ORR (p = 0.105, pembrolizumab; p = 0.473, SOC). Larger decreases in plasma EBV DNA load at C2D1 relative to baseline were associated with improved PFS, OS, and ORR for pembrolizumab and SOC (p ≤ 0.005).
conclusionsHigher baseline plasma EBV DNA load was negatively associated with outcomes in participants with NPC treated with pembrolizumab or SOC. These findings provide additional support for plasma EBV DNA as a prognostic biomarker for NPC.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02611960.
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