Brian G. Czito, MD

“THESE PRELIMINARY STUDY RESULTS suggest that combining these modalities [immunotherapy and radiation therapy] can halt tumor growth in 30% to 57% of patients, with the radiation-induced tumor response acting as a sort of vaccine in combination with immunotherapy. This cutting-edge strategy supports future trials,” said Brian G. Czito, MD, a radiation oncologist at Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, North Carolina. Dr. Czito moderated a press conference where these data were discussed. “This study included poor-prognosis patients who otherwise failed prior treatments,” he added. 

Phuoc T. Tran, MD, PhD

Phuoc T. Tran, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Oncology, and Urology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, had this to say about these early research findings: “The positive signals, particularly the abscopal responses, from this trial when combining radiation and immunotherapy are highly encouraging and warrant further exploration in prospective randomized trials. The examination [of this strategy] in lower tumor burden settings, such as the oligometastatic and oligorecurrent state, should be intensely explored given preclinical and clinical data.” ■ 

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Czito reported no conflicts of interest. Dr. Tran has received research funding from Astellas-Medivation and RefleXion Medical and is a consultant and on the medical advisory boards for RefleXion Medical and Dendreon.