Anti-PD-1 antibody plus anlotinib vs. anlotinib alone in patients with refractory chondrosarcoma: A multicenter, non-randomized phase 2 FLAIL-C trial.

[BACKGROUND] There is no standard systemic therapy for unresectable chondrosarcoma. The purpose of this study is to explore the efficacy of combination therapy with an anti-PD-1 antibody and anlotinib in patients with advanced chondrosarcoma.

[METHODS] Patients with dedifferentiated or high-grade conventional chondrosarcoma were eligible. Anlotinib was administered at 12 mg orally once a day from day 1 to 14 every 3 weeks in all participants. In the combination treatment arm, patients received an additional anti-PD-1 antibody at 200 mg every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was the 6-month progression-free survival rate (PFSR). Biomarker analyses for therapeutic effectiveness were conducted.

[FINDINGS] 70 patients (32 with dedifferentiated and 38 with conventional chondrosarcoma) were enrolled in the study. After a medium follow-up of 15.6 months, combination treatment showed significantly improved outcomes compared to anlotinib alone in the entire population, with a higher 6-month PFSR (60.0% versus 31.4%). The PFS-event inverse probability weighting adjusted Cox model evaluation also revealed a significant benefit of combination treatment (hazard ratio = 0.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.07-0.30, p < 0.001). Patients with dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma benefited the most from the combination treatment, with improvements in objective response rate (33.3% versus 9.1%), 6-month PFSR (57.1% versus 9.1%), median PFS (7.0 months versus 3.8 months), and 1-year overall survival rate (42.9% versus 18.2%). Effector memory T cells were significantly associated with treatment response (p < 0.001).

[CONCLUSIONS] The combination treatment demonstrated promising efficacy in advanced chondrosarcoma, particularly for dedifferentiated cases (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05193188).

[FUNDING] This trial was supported by Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd.