Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, Professor and Vice Chair of Hematology and Medical Oncology, the Lynne and Howard Halpern Chair in Head and Neck Cancer Research, and Director of the HNCA Medical Oncology Program at the Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, was invited to discuss the findings of JUPITER-02 at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting poster discussion session.

“With a median follow-up of 36 months, you have a very highly significant difference in overall survival with the toripalimab arm. And the mature data show a clear improvement in progression-free survival, as expected, with a median 13.2 months of improvement,” Dr. Saba noted. “Really, this trial is practice-changing.”

Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP

Jennifer Choe, MD, PhD

Agreeing with Dr. Saba was Jennifer Choe, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and lead of the Head and Neck Medical Oncology Disease Team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center: “There are limited options for patients living with this very aggressive type of head and neck cancer. These results are remarkable, with meaningful improvement over chemotherapy alone, and this is practice-changing.”

Dr. Choe continued: “I was impressed with the primary endpoint outcome, extending progression-free survival from 8.2 months with chemotherapy alone to 21.4 months with the addition of toripalimab. Now, with the strong overall survival data, this will be a new standard of care for patients, if it is approved.” n

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Saba reported financial relationships with AstraZeneca, Eisai, EMD Serono, Exelixis, GlaxoSmithKline, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Merck, Novartis, Biontech, Kura Oncology, Tosk, BMS, Vaccinex, American Journal of Managed Care, Springer, and UpToDate. Dr. Choe has served as a consultant or advisor to Exelixis, Coherus Biosciences, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Eisai, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.