Jennifer Yon-Li Wo, MD, on Colorectal and Pancreatic Cancers: New Findings on SBRT With Ipilimumab and Nivolumab
2024 ASCO GI Cancers Symposium
Jennifer Yon-Li Wo, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the local failure rate of non-ablative hypofractionated radiation therapy in combination with the immune checkpoint inhibitors ipilimumab and nivolumab compared to ablative SBRT to treat metastatic microsatellite-stable colorectal and pancreatic cancers as a secondary analysis of four prospective trials. Dr. Wo and her team found that, despite using nearly half the radiation dose in those who received immunotherapy, there was no significant difference in local failure rates (Abstract 752).
The ASCO Post Staff
Ken Kato, MD, PhD, of Japan’s National Cancer Center Hospital, discusses the first comprehensive findings on biomarkers from the CheckMate 648 study. These results further corroborate the clinical efficacy of nivolumab plus chemotherapy and nivolumab plus ipilimumab in the first-line treatment of advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. According to Dr. Kato, the data suggest an overall survival benefit across multiple biomarker subgroups (Abstract 252).
The ASCO Post Staff
Anant Ramaswamy, DM, of Tata Memorial Centre, discusses phase III results of a study that added docetaxel to a doublet regimen of fluorouracil or capecitabine and oxaliplatin, which did not improve overall survival in patients with advanced gastroesophageal junction and gastric cancers. Continuing chemotherapy beyond 6 months also did not appear to improve survival in this population (Abstract LBA248).
The ASCO Post Staff
Frank Kullmann, MD, of Germany’s Klinikum Weiden, discusses results from the ALPACA trial, which suggest a dose-reduced regimen with alternating cycles of gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine monotherapy after three induction cycles of standard gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel is feasible and associated with an overall survival comparable to that with standard treatment, as well as improved tolerability (Abstract 605).
The ASCO Post Staff
Dominik P. Modest, MD, of Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, discusses phase III study findings showing sotorasib plus panitumumab vs trifluridine/tipiracil or regorafenib benefits patients with chemorefractory metastatic colorectal cancer in terms of improved clinical outcomes and better self-reported quality of life (Abstract 10).
The ASCO Post Staff
Ian Chau, MD, of The Royal Marsden Hospital, discusses an analysis from the CheckMate 648 study on quality-adjusted time without symptoms and toxicity in patients with unresectable advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Patients treated with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and nivolumab plus chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone experienced longer quality-adjusted survival (Abstract 251).
