AstraZeneca's (AZN.US) perioperative PD-L1 therapy for gastric cancer has been found to be superior to standard treatment.

On March 7, AstraZeneca (AZN.US) announced that the results of the phase III MATTERHORN study showed that Imfinzi (durvalumab) in combination with standard chemotherapy FLOT (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel) as a perioperative treatment regimen for resectable early and locally advanced (II, III, IVA) gastric cancer and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer patients achieved a statistically and clinically meaningful improvement in the primary endpoint of event-free survival (EFS). MATTERHORN is the first global randomized phase III clinical study to demonstrate that immunotherapy in combination is superior to standard therapy. Dr. Yelena Y Janjigian, chief of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York (the lead investigator of the study) said, "Despite receiving chemotherapy and surgery with curative intent, patients with gastric cancer often face the risk of cancer recurrence and poor prognosis. The MATTERHORN data show that a perioperative combination treatment regimen including durvalumab clinically improved patient outcomes, including reducing the risk of cancer recurrence." Cristian Massacesi, chief medical officer and head of oncology development at AstraZeneca, said, "MATTERHORN is the first immunotherapy phase III clinical study to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival in resectable gastric cancer and GEJ cancer patients. The perioperative use of Imfinzi underscores our commitment to intervene early in the course of cancer to have the greatest impact and help on patients' lives."