OncLive® On Air S16 Ep15: Six-Year CheckMate 9LA Data Reinforce Durable Survival in Metastatic NSCLC: With David Carbone, MD, PhD
Feb 26, 2026
David Carbone, MD, PhD, a thoracic oncology leader at Ohio State, discusses six-year CheckMate 9LA results. He highlights durable survival with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and chemo. Strong outcomes appear in PD-L1–negative and squamous tumors. He also talks about biomarker limits, toxicity management, and practical treatment sequencing for community clinicians.
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Prioritize Long-Term Survival Over Median Metrics
- Long-term survival is now the key metric for first-line immunotherapy combinations in metastatic NSCLC.
- CheckMate 9LA six-year data show durable benefit with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and chemotherapy and confirmed activity in poor-prognosis subsets.
CTLA-4 Addition Boosts Outcomes For PD-L1 Negatives
- Adding CTLA-4 blockade appears to benefit historically poor-prognosis groups, notably PD-L1 negative and squamous tumors.
- Carbone notes PD-L1 negatives showed impressive duration of response and sometimes better outcomes than PD-L1 positives with 9LA.
Treat Toxicities Early And Stop Ipilimumab If Needed
- Manage immune adverse events proactively and consider permanently stopping ipilimumab if needed.
- Carbone recommends treating irAEs, holding dosing, and continuing maintenance nivolumab when ipilimumab is stopped, with good outcomes observed.