Broad Survival Benefit from MATTERHORN Trial Highlights New Approach to Biomarker Use

In a recent video interview with Applied Clinical Trials, Nancy Ghattas, VP, US Oncology Commercial Franchise Head of Immuno-Oncology, AstraZeneca, discussed the significance of the Phase III MATTERHORN trial (NCT04592913) results for patients with early-stage or locally advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancers. She highlighted how the Imfinzi-based perioperative regimen demonstrated a 22% reduction in the risk of death and improved overall survival regardless of PD-L1 status, marking the first immunotherapy in this setting to show such benefit. Ghattas emphasized the trial’s potential to establish a new standard of care in gastric and GEJ cancers and reflected on how these findings align with AstraZeneca’s broader immuno-oncology strategy to bring curative-intent treatments to patients earlier in their cancer journey.

The below interview transcript was lightly edited for clarity.

ACT: With nearly 70% of patients alive at three years and survival benefits observed regardless of PD-L1 status, how could this data influence future biomarker strategies or patient selection in this setting?

Ghattas: The MATTERHORN data have shown [their] potential to become the new standard of care for a broad population of patients, regardless of subgroups or PD-L1 status. This brings new hope to more patients—especially in the early setting—which is unlike what we typically see in later lines of gastric cancer treatment, where PD-L1 is a marker for therapy.

This is not the situation with MATTERHORN. We are seeing overall survival of what you mentioned—seven out of 10, or a 22% benefit—for a broad population. And this is exactly what you want to see when we’re introducing new therapies and new treatment paradigms for a broad population of patients.