UK-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has reported treatment benefits in findings from the DUO-E Phase III clinical trial of Imfinzi (durvalumab) plus Lynparza (olaparib).

The randomised, double-blind DUO-E trial assessed the combination therapy's ability to treat mismatch repair proficient (pMMR) advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer patients.

It assessed treatment with first-line Imfinzi plus platinum-based chemotherapy (carboplatin and paclitaxel) followed by either Imfinzi monotherapy or Imfinzi plus Lynparza as a maintenance therapy compared with platinum-based chemotherapy alone.

The study was conducted across 22 countries, including the US, Europe, Asia and South America.

It enrolled 699 subjects, who demonstrated an improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and other key secondary efficacy endpoints.

Each treatment group's PFS compared with standard of care was the trial’s dual primary endpoint, while overall survival, safety and tolerability were the key secondary endpoints.

Findings indicated that the combination of Imfinzi and Lynparza, particularly in patients with pMMR, improved multiple key secondary efficacy endpoints compared with chemotherapy alone.

A post-hoc exploratory subgroup analysis found that the median duration of response in pMMR patients was more than double that of the Lynparza and Imfinzi arms or the control arm.

Imfinzi plus chemotherapy followed by Imfinzi monotherapy showed consistent benefits across all secondary endpoints, with the greatest observed in patients with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) disease.

AstraZeneca Oncology research and development executive vice-president Susan Galbraith said: “DUO-E results have shown that adding Imfinzi to chemotherapy delivers better outcomes for patients with advanced endometrial cancer.

“In addition, to achieve optimal clinical benefit for patients with the greatest unmet need – those with mismatch repair proficient disease – the addition of Lynparza further enhances the effect of checkpoint inhibition in endometrial cancer.”

AstraZeneca recently began the Phase III THARROS trial of a triple-combination inhaled therapy, Breztri (budesonide / glycopyrronium / formoterol fumarate or BGF), for reducing severe cardiopulmonary outcomes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The randomised, double-blind trial aims to enrol 5,000 patients aged 40-80 years who have COPD with cardiopulmonary risks.