Intercalated Avelumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with Extensive-Stage Small-Cell Lung cancer (PAVE): Final outcome, immunophenotypic and biomarker analysis of a multi-center phase II Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group study. (2025)

[BACKGROUND] Extensive stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) has poor prognosis, and first-line chemo-immunotherapy is now the standard-of-care. We hypothesized that intercalated immunotherapy administration in-between chemotherapy cycles, at maximal neoantigen release, might enhance immune response and efficacy.

[METHODS] PAVE is a multicenter phase II study. Patients with untreated ES-SCLC received standard platinum-etoposide every three weeks for 4-6 cycles. Avelumab 10mg/kg was administered every two weeks from cycle 3 until chemotherapy completion, and as maintenance thereafter. The primary endpoint was one-year PFS. Genotyping of FFPE tumors via targeted NGS, assessment of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and analysis of CD8 and PD-L1, was performed.

[RESULTS] Between Septemb