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Skin Cancer
Immunotherapy

Four-Year Outcomes in CheckMate 238: Adjuvant Nivolumab vs Ipilimumab in Stage IIIB–IIIC or IV Melanoma

As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Paolo A. Ascierto, MD, and colleagues, 4-year results of the CheckMate 238 trial show the continued benefit of adjuvant nivolumab vs ipilimumab in recurrence-free and metastasis-free survival in patients with resected stage IIIB–IIIC or IV melanoma, with no...

Bladder Cancer
Immunotherapy

First-Line Durvalumab With or Without Tremelimumab vs Chemotherapy for Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma

In the phase III DANUBE trial, reported in The Lancet Oncology, Thomas Powles, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that durvalumab monotherapy did not prolong overall survival vs standard chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with largely metastatic urothelial carcinoma with high PD-L1...

Breast Cancer
Immunotherapy

Addition of Atezolizumab to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Early-Stage Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: IMpassion031 Trial

As reported in The Lancet by Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, and colleagues, results from the phase III IMpassion031 trial showed improved pathologic complete response rates with the addition of atezolizumab to sequential nab-paclitaxel and anthracycline-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with ...

breast cancer
immunotherapy

Lisa A. Carey, MD, on Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Paclitaxel, Nab-paclitaxel, and Atezolizumab in IMpassion Trials

Lisa A. Carey, MD, of the University of North Carolina, discusses phase III results from two IMpassion trials, 130 and 131, which explored, respectively, atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel vs placebo plus nab-paclitaxel in previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer and first-line paclitaxel with or without atezolizumab for unresectable disease (Abstracts LBA15 and LBA16).

Solid Tumors
Immunotherapy

First-in-Class Human IgG4 Monoclonal Antibody Shows Activity Alone and Combined With Pembrolizumab in Advanced Solid Tumors

MK-4830—a novel, first-in-class human IgG4 monoclonal antibody targeting the myeloid-specific anti–immunoglobulin-like transcript 4 (ILT4) receptor—administered either as a single agent or in combination with pembrolizumab was well tolerated and showed activity in heavily pretreated patients with...

Solid Tumors
Immunotherapy

Addition of Immunotherapy to Other Treatments in Patients With Brain Metastases After Definitive Surgery

In a National Cancer Database analysis reported in JAMA Network Open, Amin et al found that among patients with brain metastases who underwent definitive surgery for primary tumors, the combination of immunotherapy and radiotherapy prolonged overall survival compared with radiotherapy alone. Study...

Skin Cancer
Immunotherapy

Benefit of Pembrolizumab in High-Risk Stage III Melanoma: 3-Year Follow-up

As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Alexander M.M. Eggermont, MD, PhD, and colleagues, adjuvant pembrolizumab maintained a significant recurrence-free survival benefit vs placebo in patients with high-risk stage III melanoma after a median 3-year follow-up in the phase III EORTC...

skin cancer
immunotherapy

Alexander M. Eggermont, MD, PhD, on Melanoma: Pembrolizumab vs Placebo After Complete Resection

Alexander M. Eggermont, MD, PhD, of the Princess Maxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, discusses final results of the phase III EORTC 1325-MG/Keynote 054 trial, which confirmed a sustained recurrence-free survival benefit of pembrolizumab vs placebo in patients with resected high-risk stage III melanoma, as well as a decrease in the incidence of distant and locoregional recurrence (Abstract LBA46).

breast cancer
immunotherapy

Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, on Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Sacituzumab Govitecan vs Treatment of Physician’s Choice

Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, discusses results from the phase III ASCENT trial, which showed the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan-hziy improved progression-free and overall survival more than standard single-agent chemotherapy in patients with previously treated metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (Abstract LBA17).

Sarcoma
Immunotherapy

Does Pembrolizumab Monotherapy Demonstrate Benefit in Rare Sarcomas?

Pembrolizumab monotherapy induced responses in patients with rare sarcomas that varied by histotype, according to findings presented by Jean-Yves Blay, MD, at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020 (Abstract 1619O). Methods Dr. Blay presented first results from a cohort of patients with rare sarcomas in...

Lymphoma
Immunotherapy

NCCN Adds Tafasitamab-cxix to Its Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for B-Cell Lymphomas

MorphoSys and Incyte have announced that tafasita­mab-cxix, a humanized Fc-modified cytolytic CD19-targeting monoclonal antibody, has been included in the latest National Comprehensive Cancer Network Clinical Practice Guidelines®  (NCCN Guidelines®) in Oncology for B-Cell Lymphomas. Specifically,...

Lymphoma
Immunotherapy

Brexucabtagene Autoleucel for Relapsed or Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma

On July 24, 2020, brexucabtagene autoleucel, a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T-cell immunotherapy, was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma.1,2 Brexucabtagene autoleucel is approved with a Risk Evaluation...

Multiple Myeloma
Immunotherapy

Updates on BCMA-Directed CAR-Modified T-Cell Gene Therapies

Outcomes in patients with triple-class–failure relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who experience disease progression on immunomodulatory agents, proteasome inhibitors, and CD38 antibodies are dismal. Most recently, early results of three anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) chimeric antigen...

Breast Cancer
Immunotherapy

Phase III NALA Trial Meets Primary Endpoint in Previously Treated HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Cristina Saura, MD, of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, and colleagues, the phase III NALA trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with the irreversible pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor neratinib plus...

Lymphoma
Immunotherapy

Newer Therapeutic Approaches Improving Outcomes in Hodgkin Lymphoma

At the 2020 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology Virtual Conference, sponsored by Emory University School of Medicine and Winship Cancer Institute, Pamela Allen, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory, described recent trials on therapeutic approaches that are informative on this...

Immunotherapy

Meta-analyses of Quality of Life in Patients Treated With Checkpoint Inhibitors

Findings from two meta-analyses designed to summarize quality-of-life data on patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for cancer were presented at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020 (Abstract 1568O). These meta-analyses found that patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors had...

Genomics/Genetics
Immunotherapy

Nivolumab Shows Activity in edPOLE-Mutated, MMR-Proficient Advanced Cancers

Nivolumab monotherapy showed high response and disease control rates in patients with pathogenic exonuclease domain POLE (edPOLE)-mutated, mismatch repair (MMR)-proficient advanced tumors containing confirmed pathogenic mutations, according to findings presented by Benoit J.C. Rousseau, MD, PhD, of ...

Lung Cancer
Immunotherapy

Continuous vs Fixed-Duration Immunotherapy in Previously Treated Patients With Advanced NSCLC

In an exploratory analysis of the phase IIIb/IV CheckMate 153 trial published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, David M. Waterhouse, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that continuing nivolumab beyond 1 year of treatment vs stopping at 1 year of treatment was associated with better outcomes in...

Skin Cancer
Immunotherapy

Adjuvant Nivolumab vs Ipilimumab in Resected Advanced Melanoma: Long-Term Follow-up of CheckMate 238

Long-term findings from the phase III CheckMate 238 study showed that nivolumab improved 4-year recurrence-free survival compared with ipilimumab in patients with resected stage IIIB to C or IV melanoma in the overall population as well as across subgroups of patients stratified by disease stage...

Solid Tumors
Immunotherapy

Association of Tumor Mutational Burden With Response to Pembrolizumab in Previously Treated Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors

A prospective biomarker analysis of the multicohort phase II KEYNOTE-158 trial reported by Marabelle et al in The Lancet Oncology found that patients with previously treated advanced solid tumors were more likely to respond to pembrolizumab monotherapy if they had high tissue tumor mutational...

Bladder Cancer
Immunotherapy

Early-Phase Trial Explores Cabozantinib and Nivolumab With or Without Ipilimumab in Advanced Genitourinary Malignancies

In a phase I trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Andrea B. Apolo, MD, and colleagues found that the combination of cabozantinib and nivolumab, as well as the combination of cabozantinib/nivolumab plus ipilimumab, produced durable responses in patients with metastatic urothelial...

lung cancer
immunotherapy

Benjamin Besse, MD, PhD, on NSCLC: Neoadjuvant Atezolizumab for Resectable Disease

Benjamin Besse, MD, PhD, of the Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre, discusses results of the phase II PRINCEPS trial, which assessed, for the first time, the effect of just one injection of the immunotherapy atezolizumab before surgery in patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract 1215O).

skin cancer
immunotherapy

Paolo A. Ascierto, MD, on Melanoma: Sequencing Targeted Treatments and Immunotherapy

Paolo A. Ascierto, MD, of the Istituto Nazionale Tumori, discusses phase II results on progression-free survival for patients with advanced melanoma in the SECOMBIT study, whose aim is to evaluate the different sequencing of a BRAF inhibitor (encorafenib) plus a MEK inhibitor (binimetinib) with ipilimumab plus nivolumab (Abstract LBA45).

colorectal cancer
immunotherapy

Thierry Andre, MD, on Colorectal Cancer: Health-Related Quality of Life With Pembrolizumab vs Chemotherapy

Thierry Andre, MD, of Hôpital Saint-Antoine, discusses phase III KEYNOTE-177 findings on the reduced risk of disease progression or death in patients receiving pembrolizumab monotherapy as a first-line treatment of microsatellite instability–high and/or mismatch repair–deficient metastatic colorectal cancer (Abstract 396O).

kidney cancer
immunotherapy

Sumanta K. Pal, MD, on Renal Cell Carcinoma: Cabozantinib Plus Atezolizumab as First-Line Therapy

Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of the City of Hope National Medical Center, discusses results from the COSMIC-021 study, which tested two different doses of cabozantinib, each with a standard dose of atezolizumab, administered to patients with metastatic advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Dr. Pal reports on response rates and progression-free survival, as well as biologic correlates that may have influenced response (Abstract 702O).

Gastroesophageal Cancer
Immunotherapy

First-Line Checkpoint Inhibitors May Improve Survival in Gastroesophageal Cancers

Immune therapy for advanced gastroesophageal cancer has taken a leap forward by showing its value in the first-line setting, according to two studies in which nivolumab and pembrolizumab, both given with chemotherapy, significantly improved overall survival vs chemotherapy alone. The studies,...

head and neck cancer
immunotherapy

Ezra E.W. Cohen, MD, on Head and Neck Cancer: Avelumab and Chemoradiotherapy in Locally Advanced Disease

Ezra E.W. Cohen, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, discusses primary results of the phase III JAVELIN trial of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, in which the immune checkpoint inhibitor avelumab was combined with chemoradiotherapy followed by avelumab maintenance. Although the study results were negative, Dr. Cohen suggests other regimens that may prove to be effective (Abstract 910O).

kidney cancer
immunotherapy

Toni K. Choueiri, MD, on RCC: Nivolumab Plus Cabozantinib vs Sunitinib in First-Line Treatment

Toni K. Choueiri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the first results from the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial, which suggested the combination of nivolumab and cabozantinib is safe. It showed activity in progression-free and overall survival, as well as in overall response rates and may have a place in treating patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (Abstract 696O_PR).

Kidney Cancer
Immunotherapy

CheckMate 9ER Trial Shows Benefit of Novel Doublet for Advanced Kidney Cancer

The combination of nivolumab plus cabozantinib was superior to the former standard, sunitinib, as first-line treatment for advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma, according to results of the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial reported by Toni K. Choueiri, MD, and colleagues at the ESMO Virtual...

Bladder Cancer
Immunotherapy

Maintenance Avelumab Plus Best Supportive Care in Advanced Bladder Cancer

Findings from the JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial were published by Thomas Powles, MD, and colleagues in The New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers reported that the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab led to a 31% reduction in risk of death, and extended median survival by more than 7 months in patients with ...

Breast Cancer
Immunotherapy

Addition of Pembrolizumab to Eribulin in HR-Positive, HER2-Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer

In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that the addition of pembrolizumab to eribulin did not improve progression-free survival in women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. As stated by the...

Gastroesophageal Cancer
Gastrointestinal Cancer
Immunotherapy

First-Line PD-1 Inhibitor With or Without Chemotherapy vs Chemotherapy Alone in Advanced Gastric Cancer: KEYNOTE-062

As reported in JAMA Oncology by Kohei Shitara, MD, and colleagues, the phase III KEYNOTE-062 trial showed no significant improvement in overall or progression-free survival with first-line pembrolizumab with or without chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone in patients with PD-L1–positive advanced...

Bladder Cancer
Immunotherapy

Proton Pump Inhibitor Use May Be Associated With Worse Outcomes in Patients Treated With Atezolizumab for Urothelial Cancer

Recent evidence indicates that proton pump inhibitors may cause significant changes in the gut microbiota; gut microbiota dysbiosis has been linked to reduced immune checkpoint inhibitor effectiveness. In a retrospective analysis of clinical trials investigating the immune checkpoint inhibitor...

Breast Cancer
Immunotherapy

Meta-analysis of Duration of Adjuvant Trastuzumab in Early Breast Cancer

In individual participant data and trial-level meta-analyses reported in JAMA Network Open, Gulia et al found that disease-free survival with adjuvant trastuzumab given for less than 1 year was noninferior to 1 year of trastuzumab therapy in patients with early breast cancer. In addition, the...

Leukemia
Immunotherapy

Dr. Kantarjian Shares His Thoughts on Optimizing the Treatment of Adults With ALL

In the treatment of adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), use of newer antibodies and de-intensification of chemotherapy have greatly improved outcomes, according to Hagop ­Kantarjian, MD, who has been very involved in much of the research in ALL treatment. Dr. Kantarjian, Professor and...

Prostate Cancer
Immunotherapy

Combination Immunotherapy Benefits Subset of Patients With Advanced Prostate Cancer

Results from a phase II trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center suggest that a combination of ipilimumab (anti–CTLA-4) plus nivolumab (anti–PD-1) can generate durable responses in a subset of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, an...

Immunotherapy
Cardio-oncology

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy May Contribute to Arterial Inflammation

According to findings from a small study published by Calabretta et al in Circulation, treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors may worsen inflammation in the arteries that distribute blood from the heart. The research found increased inflammation in the large arteries of 20 Austrian patients...

Lung Cancer
Immunotherapy

First-Line Durvalumab Plus Cisplatin/Pemetrexed in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Nowak et al, the Australian phase II DREAM trial showed activity with the triplet of durvalumab plus cisplatin/pemetrexed in previously untreated patients with advanced malignant mesothelioma. Study Details In the multicenter trial, 54 evaluable patients with...

Lymphoma
Immunotherapy

Lisocabtagene Maraleucel for Relapsed or Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphomas

In the TRANSCEND NHL 001 study reported in The Lancet, Jeremy S. Abramson, MD, and colleagues found that the autologous CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell agent lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel) produced a high response rate in patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell...

Skin Cancer
Immunotherapy

Atezolizumab Plus Cobimetinib/Vemurafenib in BRAF V600–Positive Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma

On July 30, 2020, atezolizumab was granted approval for use in combination with cobimetinib and vemurafenib for patients with BRAF V600 mutation–positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings from the phase III, double-blind IMspire150 trial ...

Bladder Cancer
Immunotherapy

Avelumab in Maintenance Treatment of Urothelial Carcinoma

On June 30, 2020, avelumab was approved for maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma that has not progressed with first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the randomized, multicenter, ...

Hematologic Malignancies
Immunotherapy

Update on Novel Immunotherapies for Plasma Cell Disorders

In this installment of The ASCO Post’s Hematology Expert Review, we take a closer look at the monoclonal antibody targeting CD38, daratumumab, in the treatment of amyloid light chain (AL) amyloidosis and resistant multiple myeloma as well as the antibody-drug conjugate belantamab mafodotin-blmf,...

Skin Cancer
Immunotherapy

Growing Body of Evidence Supports Adjuvant Immunotherapy for Stage IV Melanoma With No Evidence of Disease

With incredibly paced approvals and clinical advancements in the systemic therapy of cutaneous melanoma, the efficacy of immunotherapy in this disease is clear. However, many important questions remain regarding timing and dosing—in other words, which drug (or drugs) makes the most sense and in...

Lung Cancer
Immunotherapy

Expert Point of View: Dean A. Fennell, FRCP, PhD

Invited discussant of the CheckMate 743 trial, Dean A. Fennell, FRCP, PhD, Director of the Mesothelioma Research Program and Chair of Thoracic Oncology at The University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester, United Kingdom, noted the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab has been...

Lung Cancer
Immunotherapy

Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab: New Standard of Care in First-Line Treatment of Unresectable Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma?

Immunotherapy is taking on yet another highly aggressive cancer and yielding strong results, according to data presented during the 2020 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s World Conference on Lung Cancer Virtual Presidential Symposium.1 A prespecified interim analysis of the...

Immunotherapy

New Study Focuses on Multiorgan Immunotherapy-Related Adverse Events in Clinical Trials

A new study published by Kichenadasse et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network concentrates on how immunotherapy-related adverse events may impact more than one organ in a single patient. This study provides new information on how frequently multiorgan side effects occur...

Breast Cancer
Immunotherapy

FDA Issues Alert About Efficacy and Potential Safety Concerns Regarding Atezolizumab Plus Paclitaxel in Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

On September 8, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted health-care professionals, oncology clinical investigators, and patients that a clinical trial studying the use of atezolizumab and paclitaxel in patients with previously untreated, inoperable, locally advanced or metastatic...

Leukemia
Immunotherapy

CLL14 Trial Follow-up: Venetoclax Plus Obinutuzumab in Previously Untreated Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Al-Sawaf et al, 3-year follow-up of the phase III CLL14 trial showed maintained significant improvement in progression-free survival with the fixed-duration regimen of venetoclax/obinutuzumab vs chlorambucil/obinutuzumab in previously untreated patients with...

Gynecologic Cancers
Immunotherapy

Expert Point of View: TROPHIMMUN Trial

Two gynecologic oncologists and ASCO’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, commented on the findings of the TROPHIMMUN trial for The ASCO Post. “The authors demonstrate efficacy of a new treatment approach for gestational trophoblastic...

Gynecologic Cancers
Immunotherapy

TROPHIMMUN Trial Finds Avelumab Effective in Rare Gynecologic Tumor Resistant to Chemotherapy

The first trial of immunotherapy for gestational trophoblastic tumors proved effective in almost 50% of patients resistant to single-agent chemotherapy, French investigators reported in an abstract presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program.1 The results of the phase II TROPHIMMUN trial ...

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