Perioperative treatment in resectable gastric cancer with spartalizumab in combination with fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin and docetaxel (FLOT): Results from the GASPAR phase 2 study.

[PURPOSE] Perioperative chemotherapy with FLOT is a standard of care for patients with resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma. This trial evaluated the anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody spartalizumab combined with FLOT as perioperative treatment for resectable patients.

[PATIENTS AND METHODS] GASPAR is a multicenter, single-arm, Simon two-stage phase 2 trial. Patients with untreated localized gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma considered resectable (≥ cT2 or cN+) received 4 pre- and post-operative cycles of FLOT and 2 pre- and post-operative cycles of spartalizumab. The main endpoint was the rate of pathological complete regression (pCR) according to the Becker criteria, requiring 67 patients (H0/H1 =10/23 %, α=5 %, β=20 %).

[RESULTS] Overall, 68 patients were included: men (78 %), median age 63 years [range 31-79], cT3 51 %, GEJ 60 %, cN+ 58 %. Treatment was started in 67 patients. Delayed FLOT administration for toxicity and dose reduction concerned 14 (21 %) and 28 (42 %) patients, respectively. Surgery was R0 in 62 (95 %) of the patients operated on. Among 64 patients assessable for efficacy, pCR was observed in 20 patients (31 %), and major pathological response in 12 patients (19 %), meaning a major response rate of 50 %. Five patients developed grade 3 immune-mediated adverse events. One death related to pneumocystis occurred. Severe post-surgery complications occurred in 15 patients (23 %). After a median follow-up of 30 months [range 4-42], OS and DFS at 2 years were 86 % [77.8-94.9] and 77.5 % [68.1-88.2], respectively.

[CONCLUSIONS] Spartalizumab combined with FLOT shows high efficacy as perioperative treatment in patients with resectable gastric cancer, and an acceptable safety profile.

[TRIAL REGISTRATION] ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04736485.