Loqtorzi Nearly Doubles Long-Term Survival in Nasopharyngeal Cancer

Six-year follow-up from the phase 3 JUPITER-02 trial showed that adding Loqtorzi (toripalimab-tpzi) to chemotherapy improved overall survival for patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma when used as first-line treatment, according to a news release from Coherus Oncology.

“The new six-year overall survival follow up data gives us even greater confidence to use [Loqtorzi] in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma that is recurrent or metastatic,” Dr. Victoria Villaflor, professor and director, Head and Neck Oncology Program, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, UC Irvine School of Medicine, said in the news release.

In an exploratory post-hoc analysis, patients who received Loqtorzi plus gemcitabine and cisplatin lived a median of 64.8 months, nearly twice as long as those who received chemotherapy alone, who lived a median of 33.7 months. This reflects an improvement of 31 months and an observed 38% lower risk of death with the Loqtorzi combination. The findings, presented at ESMO Asia 2025, highlight meaningful, long-term survival gains for people living with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, as per the release.

“These data suggest a significant long-term overall survival benefit for patients living with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma,” Dr. Rosh Dias, chief medical officer, Coherus Oncology, said in the news release. “With these long-term data, Loqtorzi, in combination with chemotherapy, reinforces the data supporting this regimen as the standard of care for patients living with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.”

JUPITER-02 is a phase 3 study that compared Loqtorzi plus chemotherapy with chemotherapy alone as an initial treatment for recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The extended follow-up provides a longer view of patient outcomes beyond the initial survival results previously reported.

Recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma is an aggressive disease, and long-term survival with chemotherapy alone is often limited. The multi-year survival seen in patients who received Loqtorzi suggests the treatment may offer meaningful benefit over standard chemotherapy, as per the release.

Serious side effects

When Loqtorzi was given with chemotherapy as a first treatment (JUPITER-02), serious side effects happened in 43% of patients. The most common serious side effects were low platelets (14%), low white blood cells called neutrophils (10%), pneumonia (10%), anemia (9%), liver problems (2.7%) and rash (2.1%). Three patients (2.1%) died from side effects: one from severe nosebleed, one from bleeding in the brain linked to immune-related low platelets and blood clotting problems and one from pneumonia. Twelve percent of patients stopped Loqtorzi permanently because of side effects, most often due to pneumonia (2.1%), tuberculosis in the lungs (1.4%), rash (1.4%) or vomiting (1.4%).

When Loqtorzi was used alone after prior treatment (POLARIS-02), serious side effects occurred in 24% of patients. The most common were pneumonia (4.7%) and liver problems (2.6%). About 3.7% of patients died from side effects, including causes such as bleeding from the tumor, liver failure with low platelets, low sodium levels and sudden death. Nine percent of patients stopped Loqtorzi permanently because of side effects, most often pneumonia or liver problems (1.1% each).

Common side effects

With Loqtorzi plus chemotherapy (JUPITER-02), the most common side effects were nausea (71%), vomiting (68%), loss of appetite (55%), constipation (39%), low thyroid function (38%), rash (36%), fever (32%), diarrhea (31%), nerve pain or numbness (30%), cough (26%), muscle or joint pain (25%), upper respiratory infections (23%), trouble sleeping (23%), dizziness (21%) and feeling unwell (21%).

When Loqtorzi was used alone (POLARIS-02), the most common side effects were low thyroid function (27%), fatigue (22%) and cough (20%).

Reference

1. “Coherus Announces Six-Year JUPITER-02 Follow-up Results Showing LOQTORZI® plus Chemotherapy Nearly Doubles Median Overall Survival in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.” News Release. Coherus Oncology. Dec 8^th, 2025.

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