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Hepatobiliary Cancer
Immunotherapy

Expert Point of View: Ian Chau, MD

Invited discussant Ian Chau, MD, Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London and Surrey in the United Kingdom, said the findings from COSMIC-312 are not mature enough to establish cabozantinib/atezolizumab as a new front-line option for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma...

Hepatobiliary Cancer
Immunotherapy

COSMIC-312: Cabozantinib Plus Atezolizumab Improves Progression-Free Survival in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The phase III COSMIC-312 study has met its primary endpoint, showing a significant improvement in progression-free survival with cabozantinib plus atezolizumab compared with sorafenib in treatment-naive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), investigators reported at a European Society for Medical...

Hepatobiliary Cancer
Immunotherapy

Expert Point of View: Chris Verslype, MD, PhD

The invited discussant of the RATIONALE 208 trial, Chris Verslype, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium, said tislelizumab is an “active and safe” investigational PD-1 antibody, “comparable to other PD-1 agents.” In particular, he noted, the results of RATIONALE...

Hepatobiliary Cancer
Immunotherapy

RATIONALE 208: ‘Durable Clinical Activity’ Reported With Tislelizumab in Advanced Liver Cancer

With the investigational checkpoint inhibitor tislelizumab, durable responses were achieved by some patients with previously treated advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, regardless of the number of prior lines of therapy, in the phase II RATIONALE 208 trial. These findings were presented during the...

Hepatobiliary Cancer
Immunotherapy

Expert Point of View: Nilofer Azad, MD

Nilofer Azad, MD, Professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Co-Director of Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, was invited to discuss the results of the phase III TOPAZ-1 study, which found an overall survival...

Hepatobiliary Cancer
Immunotherapy

TOPAZ-1: Overall Survival Prolonged With First-Line Immunotherapy Plus Chemotherapy in Biliary Tract Cancer

For the first time, a phase III study has shown an overall survival benefit for upfront treatment using immunotherapy plus chemotherapy in advanced biliary tract cancer. In the TOPAZ-1 trial, the addition of the anti–PD-L1 agent durvalumab to gemcitabine plus cisplatin significantly improved...

Gastroesophageal Cancer
Gastrointestinal Cancer
Immunotherapy

KEYNOTE-811: Pembrolizumab Plus Trastuzumab and Chemotherapy in Previously Untreated Advanced HER2-Positive Gastric Adenocarcinoma

As reported in Nature by Yelena Y. Janjigian, MD, of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, the first interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-811 trial has shown a significantly higher objective response rate with the addition of...

Colorectal Cancer
Hepatobiliary Cancer
Gastroesophageal Cancer
Gastrointestinal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Recent FDA Approvals in Gastrointestinal Cancer

Over the past year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval to several novel drugs and new indications for older therapeutic agents used in gastrointestinal oncology. Cetuximab Plus Encorafenib On September 28, 2021, cetuximab (Erbitux) was approved in combination with encorafenib...

Gastroesophageal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Expert Point of View: Samuel J. Klempner, MD

Samuel J. Klempner, MD, Associate Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, commented on the NEONIPIGA study for The ASCO Post. “This study was the first prospective data set to show what many have suspected—that neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade would lead to a...

Gastroesophageal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Neoadjuvant Checkpoint Inhibitor Doublet Yields Complete Responses in Gastroesophageal Cancers

In patients with resectable microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H)/mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, dual checkpoint inhibition with ipilimumab and nivolumab given as neoadjuvant therapy led to a pathologic complete response rate of 58.6%,...

Gastroesophageal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Adding Pembrolizumab to Chemotherapy Improves Overall and Progression-Free Survival in First-Line Treatment of Advanced Esophageal Cancer

As reported in The Lancet by Jong-Mu Sun, MD, of Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, and colleagues, an interim analysis in the phase III KEYNOTE-590 trial has shown that the addition of first-line pembrolizumab to chemotherapy resulted in improved overall and progression-free...

Gastroesophageal Cancer
Gastrointestinal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Adding First-Line Nivolumab to Chemotherapy Improves Survival in Gastric, Gastroesophageal Junction, and Esophageal Adenocarcinomas

As reported in The Lancet by Yelena Y. Janjigian, MD, of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III CheckMate 649 trial has shown that the addition of first-line nivolumab to chemotherapy resulted in improved overall and...

Immunotherapy

Atezolizumab Induces Responses in Advanced Penile Cancer, but Biomarkers Needed to Improve Patient Selection

Use of the immune checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab with or without radiotherapy showed antitumor activity in stage IV penile cancer in the phase II PERICLES trial, although the study failed to meet the primary endpoint of 1-year progression-free survival of at least 35%. The hints of activity were ...

Immunotherapy

ARIES Trial: Avelumab Failed to Improve 1-Year Survival in PD-L1–Positive Advanced Urothelial Cancer

First-line treatment with the PD-L1 antibody avelumab failed to meet the primary endpoint of an improvement in overall survival at 1 year for patients with cisplatin-ineligible, PD-L1–positive advanced urothelial cancer. However, the objective response and disease control rates were favorable in...

Kidney Cancer
Immunotherapy

KEYNOTE-564 Update Supports Benefit of Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in High-Risk Renal Cell Carcinoma

An updated analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-564 trial continues to support the use of adjuvant pembrolizumab vs placebo in patients with renal cell carcinoma at high risk of recurrence, according to a presentation at the 2022 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.1 At 30 months of follow-up,...

Immunotherapy

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Launches James P. Allison Institute

Today, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center launched the James P. Allison Institute, a visionary research and innovation hub within MD Anderson designed to foster groundbreaking science, to develop new treatments, and to bring the benefits of immunotherapy to all patients. The Allison...

prostate cancer
immunotherapy

Tanya B. Dorff, MD, on Prostate Cancer: Early Data on PSCA-Targeted CAR T-Cell Therapy

Tanya B. Dorff, MD, of City of Hope National Medical Center, discusses the first-in-human phase I findings showing that prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) CAR T-cell therapy is feasible in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, with preliminary antitumor activity exhibited.

Hepatobiliary Cancer
Immunotherapy

Sequencing of Drug Combinations Could Amplify Antitumor Immune Response in Liver Cancer

A new therapeutic strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that initially primes the tumor with an immune checkpoint inhibitor before using a multikinase inhibitor has shown efficacy in a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Kikuchi et al reported that the new...

Gynecologic Cancers
Immunotherapy

Atezolizumab Plus Chemoradiation Is Safe, Demonstrates Signs of Immune Activation in Patients With Cervical Cancer

A phase I/Ib trial conducted by the National Cancer Institute’s National Clinical Trials Network group NRG Oncology, NRG-GY017, concluded that the addition of the immunotherapy atezolizumab prior to and concurrently given with chemoradiation was safe for women with node-positive, locally advanced...

Gynecologic Cancers
Immunotherapy

SORAYA Trial: Antibody-Drug Conjugate Produces Remissions in One-Third of Patients With Drug-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

In a clinical trial involving patients with ovarian cancer previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy, a novel antibody-drug conjugate therapy produced a substantially better response than standard treatments, investigators from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reported at the Society of...

Lymphoma
Immunotherapy
Symptom Management

Early Intrathecal Therapy for High-Grade ICANS in Patients Receiving CAR T-Cell Therapy

In a single-institution retrospective review reported in JAMA Oncology, Zurko et al found that early intrathecal therapy with hydrocortisone with or without intrathecal chemotherapy was effective in treating grade ≥ 3 immune effector cell–associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) in patients...

Gynecologic Cancers
Immunotherapy

FDA Approves Pembrolizumab for Advanced Endometrial Carcinoma

On March 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as a single agent for patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma that is microsatellite instability–high or mismatch repair–deficient (as determined by an FDA-approved test). Eligible patients have disease...

Lung Cancer
Immunotherapy

Adjuvant Pembrolizumab May Improve Disease-Free Survival in Patients With Early-Stage NSCLC

Adjuvant pembrolizumab may improve disease-free survival compared to placebo in patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following complete resection and adjuvant chemotherapy when indicated, investigators from the PEARLS/KEYNOTE-091 trial reported in a European Society for...

Colorectal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Temozolomide Followed by Low-Dose Ipilimumab/Nivolumab in MSS and MGMT-Silenced Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

In an Italian phase II study (MAYA) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Morano et al found that patients with microsatellite-stable (MSS) and O6-methylguanine–DNA methyltransferase (MGMT)-silenced metastatic colorectal cancer without disease progression on temozolomide derived benefit...

Skin Cancer
Immunotherapy

FDA Approves Nivolumab/Relatlimab-rmbw for Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma

On March 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab and relatlimab-rmbw (Opdualag) for adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age or older with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. The approved treatment is a fixed-dose combination of the LAG-3–blocking antibody relatlimab ...

Bladder Cancer
Kidney Cancer
Prostate Cancer
Immunotherapy

Genitourinary Oncology 2021–2022 Almanac

The past year has witnessed tremendous advances in genitourinary oncology. I am pleased to review these findings in this year’s Genitourinary Oncology Almanac from The ASCO Post. I hope that you will find this roadmap helpful in highlighting a selection of these exciting developments. Checkpoint...

Kidney Cancer
Immunotherapy

KEYNOTE-564 Update Supports Benefit of Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in High-Risk Renal Cell Carcinoma

An updated analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-564 trial continues to support the use of adjuvant pembrolizumab vs placebo in patients with renal cell carcinoma at high risk of recurrence, according to a presentation at the 2022 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.1 At 30 months of follow-up,...

Kidney Cancer
Immunotherapy

KEYNOTE-564: Adjuvant Pembrolizumab Extends Disease-Free Survival in High-Risk Renal Cell Carcinoma

Adjuvant pembrolizumab following surgery significantly improved disease-free survival compared with placebo among patients with high-risk clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to the international phase III KEYNOTE-564 study presented at the Plenary session during the 2021 ASCO Annual...

Kidney Cancer
Immunotherapy

First-Line Nivolumab Plus Cabozantinib Improves Progression-Free and Overall Survival vs Sunitinib in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma

As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Toni K. Choueiri, MD, of Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues, the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial has shown that the combination of nivolumab and cabozantinib improved progression-free survival and...

Lung Cancer
Genomics/Genetics
Immunotherapy

Front-Line Toripalimab Plus Chemotherapy Improves Survival in Patients With Advanced NSCLC Without Actionable Mutations

Adding the PD-1 inhibitor toripalimab to chemotherapy significantly improved survival compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without EGFR/ALK mutations, according to research presented by Wang et al during the March 2022 session of the ASCO...

Skin Cancer
Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy Duo Delays Disease Progression in Previously Untreated Patients With Melanoma: RELATIVITY-047

A novel immunotherapeutic combination that targets PD-1 and the LAG-3 pathway may significantly delay disease progression as a first-line treatment of advanced or unresectable melanoma. Updated results of the global phase III RELATIVITY-047 trial validated the study’s initial findings and were...

Immunotherapy
Bladder Cancer

Adjuvant Nivolumab Improves Disease-Free Survival in High-Risk Muscle-Invasive Urothelial Carcinoma

As reported inThe New England Journal of Medicine by Dean F. Bajorin, MD, of the Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, an interim analysis of the phase III CheckMate 274 trial has shown improved disease-free survival with adjuvant nivolumab vs placebo...

Skin Cancer
Immunotherapy

Oncolytic Virus Plus Nivolumab Demonstrates Durable Response in Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer of the Head and Neck

Intratumor injection of the oncolytic virus RP1 in combination with the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab has demonstrated durable antitumor activity in patients with nonmelanoma skin cancer of the head and neck, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers...

head and neck cancer
immunotherapy

David S. Hong, MD, on New Findings on Tisotumab Vedotin-tftv in Patients With Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

David S. Hong, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses results from a phase II cohort, which suggest favorable antitumor activity with tisotumab vedotin-tftv in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that has progressed after treatment with a platinum-containing regimen. Additional research is warranted, says Dr. Hong, in the second-line setting as well as in treatment-naive patients in combinations with pembrolizumab and carboplatin.

kidney cancer
bladder cancer
prostate cancer
genomics/genetics
immunotherapy
covid-19

Sumanta K. Pal, MD, on Advances in Genitourinary Cancer Treatment: Expert Perspective

Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of City of Hope National Medical Center, discusses some key research developments in kidney cancer, including data on nivolumab and ipilimumab with or without CBM588 in metastatic renal cell carcinoma; intestinal microbiome associated with the development of grade 3 or 4 adverse events in patients with metastatic disease who have been treated with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and probiotic support; the link between TERT promoter mutations and clinical outcome with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for advanced urothelial cancer; mutations in the androgen receptor gene in patients with prostate cancer receiving novel androgen deprivation treatments; and findings on waning antibody titers in patients who have received COVID-19 vaccinations (Roundup of Abstracts 371, 561, 374, Posters 38 and 48).

Kidney Cancer
Immunotherapy

KEYNOTE-564 Update Supports Benefit of Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in High-Risk Renal Cell Carcinoma

An updated analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-564 trial continues to support the use of adjuvant pembrolizumab vs placebo in patients with renal cell carcinoma at high risk of recurrence, according to a presentation at the 2022 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.1 At 30 months of follow-up,...

Gynecologic Cancers
Immunotherapy

Time for a Radical Change in the Treatment of Endometrial Cancer: KEYNOTE-775 and Beyond

I had the privilege of sitting in a meeting on the treatment of endometrial cancer as a junior investigator in January 2015 where a representative from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was present. The topic of the meeting was on how to design the next endometrial cancer trials. I remember...

Gynecologic Cancers
Immunotherapy

Lenvatinib/Pembrolizumab Improves Progression-Free and Overall Survival vs Chemotherapy in Previously Treated Advanced Endometrial Cancer

As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Vicky Makker, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III Study 309/KEYNOTE-775 trial has shown prolonged progression-free and overall survival with lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab vs physician’s choice of...

Lymphoma
Immunotherapy

Expert Point of View: Matthew Genyeh Mei, MD

American Society of Hematology (ASH) session co-moderator Matthew Genyeh Mei, MD, Associate Professor, Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute of City of Hope in Southern California, said the studies of checkpoint inhibitors in newly diagnosed and previously treated Hodgkin ...

Lymphoma
Immunotherapy

Combinations Advance the Power of Pembrolizumab in Hodgkin Lymphoma

Pembrolizumab monotherapy is an established treatment strategy for relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma. In combination with chemotherapy, the checkpoint inhibitor is also showing value in the front-line setting and further boosting outcomes in the relapsed setting, according to...

Gastroesophageal Cancer
Gastrointestinal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Expert Point of View: Stefano Cascinu, MD

Stefano Cascinu, MD, of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, Università Vita-Salute, IRCCS-Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy, was the invited discussant of KEYNOTE-5901 and CheckMate 649.2 “These landmark studies could change the treatment paradigm of advanced esophageal and gastric cancers. They...

Gastroesophageal Cancer
Gastrointestinal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Checkpoint Inhibitors in Esophagogastric Cancer: Updates of Landmark Trials

Updates of landmark trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors as first-line therapy for advanced HER2-negative esophagogastric cancers were presented at the 2022 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. The studies upheld previous findings of an overall survival benefit when these agents are paired...

Colorectal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Expert Point of View: Christopher Willett, MD

Christopher Willett, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, shared his thoughts on the findings of the study by Lumish et al1 with The ASCO Post. He first noted the shift in recent years toward total neoadjuvant therapy in the...

Colorectal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Small Study Reports Neoadjuvant PD-1 Blockade Yields 100% Clinical Complete Response Rate in Locally Advanced Mismatch Repair–Deficient Rectal Cancer

In a small study of patients with locally advanced mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) rectal cancer, treatment with the anti–PD-1 agent dostarlimab-gxly alone led to a clinical complete response rate of 100%. The findings of this study from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) were reported...

Gastroesophageal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Expert Point of View: Samuel J. Klempner, MD

Samuel J. Klempner, MD, Associate Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, commented on the NEONIPIGA study for The ASCO Post. “This study was the first prospective data set to show what many have suspected—that neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade would lead to a...

Gastroesophageal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Neoadjuvant Checkpoint Inhibitor Doublet Yields Complete Responses in Gastroesophageal Cancers

In patients with resectable microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H)/mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, dual checkpoint inhibition with ipilimumab and nivolumab given as neoadjuvant therapy led to a pathologic complete response rate of 58.6%,...

Colorectal Cancer
Immunotherapy

Expert Point of View: Benoit Rousseau, MD, PhD

Benoit Rousseau, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, called the findings of the phase II GERCOR NIPICOL trial “interesting and convincing.” Long-term follow-up showed the 3-year progression-free survival rate to be 70% after just 1 total year of treatment with nivolumab...

Colorectal Cancer
Immunotherapy

NIPICOL Trial: Promising Outcomes With Shorter Duration of Checkpoint Inhibition in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

The phase II GERCOR NIPICOL study evaluated 1 year of treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with chemotherapy-resistant metastatic colorectal cancer whose tumors were microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR). With this shortened treatment duration,...

bladder cancer
immunotherapy

Petros Grivas, MD, PhD, on Urothelial Cancer: New Data on Sacituzumab Govitecan-hziy and Pembrolizumab

Petros Grivas, MD, PhD, of the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses results from Cohort 3 of the TROPHY-U-01 study, which assessed sacituzumab govitecan-hziy in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who experienced disease progression after platinum-based regimens (Abstract 434).

kidney cancer
immunotherapy

Toni K. Choueiri, MD, on Renal Cell Carcinoma: Follow-up Data on Pembrolizumab

Toni K. Choueiri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses a 30-month follow-up of results from the KEYNOTE-564 trial, which further support the use of adjuvant pembrolizumab when treating patients with renal cell carcinoma at intermediate-high or high risk of recurrence, or with an M1 NED (no evidence of disease) status after nephrectomy. The data show a disease-free survival benefit vs placebo (Abstract 290).

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