Lung cancer immunotherapy combination cuts risk of death by a third in final phase 3 analysis
Editorial illustration — Press Pass USAA perioperative immunotherapy combination significantly improved survival for patients with operable lung cancer, according to the final analysis of the phase 3 NEOTORCH trial presented Tuesday at the ESMO Congress in Madrid and published simultaneously in Annals of Oncology.
The randomized, double-blind trial enrolled 501 patients with resectable stage II–III non-small cell lung cancer, who received toripalimab or placebo alongside chemotherapy for three cycles before surgery and one cycle after, followed by up to 13 cycles of maintenance therapy. With a median follow-up of 48.2 months, toripalimab plus chemotherapy cut the risk of disease recurrence, progression or death by 48% (hazard ratio 0.52): median event-free survival had not been reached in the toripalimab arm, versus 20.2 months in the placebo arm.
The combination also improved overall survival, cutting the risk of death by 34% (hazard ratio 0.66); median overall survival had not been reached in either arm. Pathological response was markedly higher with toripalimab: a major pathological response rate of 47% versus 9%, and a pathological complete response rate of 26% versus 1%. The safety profile was described as manageable, with no new safety signals.
Toripalimab, an anti-PD-1 antibody, was already approved in China in December 2023 for perioperative use in resectable stage IIIA–IIIB disease. In July 2026, China's drug regulator accepted a supplemental application to expand the indication to stage II–III disease based on this final analysis. The results do not by themselves change U.S. approvals.
Sources: Junshi Biosciences / GlobeNewswire via Morningstar (Oct 27, 2026); Annals of Oncology (NEOTORCH final analysis, Oct 27, 2026).
Sponsored