(Barcelona, Spain September 9, 2025, 10:15 a.m. CEST / UTC +2) – A new study presented today reports encouraging long-term survival outcomes from an experimental viral immunotherapy, CAN-2409, in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who previously failed to respond adequately to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI).
The study was presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2025 World Conference on Lung Cancer.
The phase 2a clinical trial investigated the efficacy of two intratumoral injections of CAN-2409 combined with an oral prodrug (valacyclovir) in patients with unresectable stage III/IV NSCLC, a clinical trial sponsored by Candel Therapeutics. Patients were separated into two cohorts based on their disease status at enrollment: those with stable disease despite ICI and those with progressive disease despite ICI.
Among the 76 patients enrolled, 46 were considered eligible for analysis (per protocol population). At a median follow-up of 32.4 months, median overall survival (OS) for the eligible population was 24.5 months, with 37% of patients still alive more than two years post-treatment. In patients with progressive disease at baseline, median OS was 21.5 months.
"Notably, patients with non-squamous histology demonstrated longer OS than those with squamous histology (25.4 vs. 13.3 months), linked to a significant increase in cytotoxic effector T cells and other favorable immunological changes following treatment," said Dr. Charu Aggarwal of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
Systemic immune activation was observed, with abscopal responses seen in 69% of patients with multiple lesions, indicating a robust systemic anti-tumor effect triggered by local treatment.
"This extended follow-up confirms the durable survival benefit of CAN-2409 for patients who otherwise have limited treatment options after failing ICI therapy," said Dr. Aggarwal. "These results strongly support advancing CAN-2409 into a larger, randomized controlled trial, particularly in patients with non-squamous histology."
Dr. Aggarwal noted that CAN-2409 continued to show a favorable safety and tolerability profile throughout the extended follow-up period.
About the IASLC:
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated solely to the study of lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies. Founded in 1974, the association's membership includes more than 10,000 lung cancer specialists across all disciplines in over 100 countries. The IASLC publishes the Journal of Thoracic Oncology and is committed to advancing research, education, and multidisciplinary collaboration to conquer lung and thoracic cancers worldwide. Learn more at www.iaslc.org.
About the WCLC:
