ASCO Tecentriq data a ‘landmark’ in dMMR colon cancer

The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology has announced results from ATOMIC, a Phase III trial evaluating standard chemotherapy alone or combined with Roche’s (ROG: SIX) Tecentriq (atezolizumab) in patients who have surgically resected stage III colon cancer and deficient deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) mismatch repair (dMMR). 

The study, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and conducted in partnership with the Roche subsidiary Genentech, met its primary endpoint, demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in disease-free survival (DFS) with the addition of Tecentriq, an anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, to standard adjuvant FOLFOX (5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin). 

Adding Tecentriq resulted in a statistically significant improvement in DFS of patients, reducing the instantaneous risk of disease recurrence or death by 50% for patients treated with the immunotherapy drug in combination with chemotherapy, compared to those receiving chemotherapy alone.