# CAPTAIN-1st: camrelizumab versus placebo with gemcitabine and cisplatin as first-line treatment for recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-captain-1st-camrelizumab-chemotherapy-npc-lancet-oncol-2021/  
OnCo record `paper-captain-1st-camrelizumab-chemotherapy-npc-lancet-oncol-2021` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A second PD-1 antibody, camrelizumab, also lengthened progression-free survival when added to gemcitabine and cisplatin in metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer, confirming that chemo-immunotherapy is the new first-line standard.

## Summary

Chinese multicentre randomised double-blind phase 3 trial of 263 patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma assigned to camrelizumab or placebo with gemcitabine and cisplatin, followed by maintenance.

Median progression-free survival was 9.7 months with camrelizumab against 6.9 months with placebo (hazard ratio 0.54), with a higher response rate; reactive cutaneous capillary endothelial proliferation, characteristic of camrelizumab, was common but mostly mild.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-18
- Journal: The Lancet Oncology
- Year: 2021
- DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00302-8
- Authors: Yang Y, Qu S, Li J, et al.
- Findings: Median progression-free survival 9.7 months with camrelizumab plus chemotherapy versus 6.9 months with chemotherapy alone; hazard ratio 0.54.
- What it means: Together with JUPITER-02 and RATIONALE-309, this trial made PD-1 blockade plus gemcitabine-cisplatin the first-line standard for metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- Caveats: Conducted entirely in China.; Overall survival data were immature at publication.

## Sources

- Lancet Oncol 2021: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00302-8
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34174189/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Recurrent and metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/recurrent-metastatic-nasopharyngeal-carcinoma/)
- drugs: [Camrelizumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/camrelizumab/), [Gemcitabine + cisplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/gemcitabine-cisplatin/)
- trials: [CAPTAIN-1st](https://onco.cc/trials/captain-1st/)
- journals: [The Lancet Oncology](https://onco.cc/journals/lancet-oncology/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/paper-captain-1st-camrelizumab-chemotherapy-npc-lancet-oncol-2021.json