Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, of the Yale School of Medicine, summarizes a session that included discussion of the mechanisms of immunotherapies, biomarkers for activity of these agents, overcoming resistance, and using treatment combinations.
Linda Mileshkin, MBBS, of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, discusses phase Ib trial findings on the anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody BGB-A317 in combination with the PARP inhibitor BGB-290 in advanced solid tumors.
Sumanta K. Pal, MD, of the City of Hope, discusses immunotherapy as a front-line treatment for kidney cancer and the strategy of VEGF blockade with immunotherapy, which is emerging as a possible treatment modality.
Joaquim Bellmunt, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses refining treatment choices with new combinations and sequencing strategies.
James L. Gulley, MD, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute, discusses combined treatment approaches showing early evidence of clinical activity: agents such as vaccines or PARP inhibitors that can initiate an immune response, paired with agents such as checkpoint inhibitors that can facilitate the activity of tumor-directed immune cells.
Jeffrey M. Lemons, MD, of the University of Chicago, discusses early safety and efficacy findings from a small study on pembrolizumab and multiorgan-site ablative stereotactic body radiotherapy in patients with advanced solid tumors (Abstract 20).
