Correction: Toripalimab or placebo with chemotherapy as initial therapy for advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma in a multicenter, randomized phase 3 trial

By
Hai-Qiang Mai
Qiu-Yan Chen
Dongping Chen
Chaosu Hu
Kunyu Yang
Jiyu Wen
Jingao Li
Ying-Rui Shi
Feng Jin
Ruilian Xu
Jianji Pan
Shenhong Qu
Ping Li
Chunhong Hu
Yi-Chun Liu
Yi Jiang
Xia He
Hung-Ming Wang
Wan-Teck Lim
Wangjun Liao
Xiaohui He
Xiaozhong Chen
Zhigang Liu
Xianglin Yuan
Qi Li
Xiaoyan Lin
Shanghua Jing
Yanju Chen
Yin Lu
Ching-Yun Hsieh
Muh-Hwa Yang
Chia-Jui Yen
Jens Samol
Hui Feng
Sheng Yao
Patricia Keegan
Rui-Hua Xu
October 27, 2026

Nature Medicine

Overview

A correction published on 2 August 2021 amended patient counts, selected safety values, a figure data-cutoff date, and source-data labels in the phase 3 trial report of toripalimab or placebo with chemotherapy for advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. It also clarified survival-data coding and censoring rules; the authors stated that the study results and conclusions were unaffected.

Background

The corrected article concerns a multicenter, randomized phase 3 trial evaluating toripalimab or placebo with chemotherapy as initial therapy for advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Accurate reporting of treatment exposure, safety outcomes, and survival-analysis data is important for interpreting trial materials. The correction addresses discrepancies across the article text, figures, tables, supplementary materials, and source data. It states that amendments were incorporated into the HTML and PDF versions without changing the study’s results or conclusions.

Data Highlights

Item	Originally reported	Corrected or clarified information
Patients continuing maintenance treatment after chemotherapy	231 (79.9%)	233 (80.6%); Extended Data Fig. 1 legend total also corrected to 233
Fig. 2 data cutoff	18 February 2020	18 February 2021
Toripalimab + GP: any-grade thrombocytopenia	93 (63.0)	92 (63.0)
Toripalimab + GP: grade ≥3 hypochloremia	2 (1)	2 (1.4)
Supplementary Table S13: Alive	219 (76.1)	219 (75.8)
Supplementary Table S10 footnote	“determined by investigator”	“determined by BIRC”
Fig. 2 Source Data column label	“PFS”	“OS”
Survival source-data coding	Not specified in the correction summary	“0” represents an event; “1” represents censoring
Supplementary Table S15 censoring clarification	Three patients who later died were censored in PFS and duration-of-response analyses	Censoring followed prespecified rules: at least two consecutive scheduled tumor assessments were missed, or new anticancer therapy began before progression or death was documented

Key Findings

The maintenance-treatment count was corrected from 231 (79.9%) to 233 (80.6%), with the Extended Data Fig. 1 legend updated accordingly.
The Fig. 2 data cutoff was corrected to 18 February 2021 from 18 February 2020.
In the Toripalimab + GP group, any-grade thrombocytopenia was corrected to 92 (63.0), and grade ≥3 hypochloremia to 2 (1.4).
The Supplementary Table S10 footnote was corrected to identify BIRC, rather than the investigator, as the source of determination; Supplementary Table S13 “Alive” was corrected to 219 (75.8).
Fig. 2 Source Data should label the relevant column “OS,” not “PFS”; in source data for Figs. 1, 2, and Extended Data Fig. 2, 0 denotes an event and 1 denotes censoring.
Three patients who later died were censored in PFS and duration-of-response analyses under prespecified rules because they missed at least two consecutive scheduled tumor assessments or began new anticancer therapy before progression or death was documented. The correction states that the study results and conclusions remain unaffected.

Clinical Implications

When interpreting or citing the trial, use the corrected counts, safety values, cutoff date, and source-data labels, and apply the stated event/censor coding and censoring clarifications. The correction explicitly reports that these amendments do not affect the study’s results or conclusions.

Conclusion

The correction resolves reporting and interpretation issues across the trial publication and its supplementary data. The authors report no change to the study’s results or conclusions.