David Reardon, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses phase I/II results from the EOGBM1-18/ROSALIE study, which showed the EO2401 vaccine plus nivolumab generated systemic immune responses correlating with efficacy in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. Adding bevacizumab to this combination appeared to improve efficacy. (Abstract 642).
Kishu Ranjan, PhD, of Yale University School of Medicine, discusses his study findings, which identified a deficiency in the biomarker TAP2 as a prominent immune evasion mechanism in patients whose non–small cell lung cancer has resisted immunotherapy (Abstract 148).
Saman Maleki, PhD, of Canada’s Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute, discusses modifying the gut microbiome in patients with advanced melanoma to induce a response to anti–PD-1 therapy and potentially reduce primary resistance to immunotherapy. A fecal microbiota transplant from healthy donors before treatment appears to be beneficial (Abstract 614).
Wade T. Iams, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discusses phase II efficacy results from the first-line non–small cell lung cancer cohort of the TACTI-002 study. The results suggest that when combined with pembrolizumab, eftilagimod alpha yielded encouraging efficacy across all PD-L1 levels, including patients with PD-L1 low and PD-L1 negative disease (Abstract 1470).
Michael B. Atkins, MD, of Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, explores recent clinical trials in immuno-oncology in which the phase III trial produced markedly different results from the phase II trial. To help understand the potential value to patients of late-stage trials of treatment combinations, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer has developed a checklist for investigators, applicable to any regimen in which immune modulation is an important component of the antitumor effect.
Jonathan Chen, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses “immunity hubs” that interact with a reservoir of stem-like CD8 T cells and appear to be associated with subsequent response to anti–PD-1 blockade in patients with non–small cell lung cancer. Hybrid hubs, Dr. Chen says, are a favorable class of immunity hub notable for CD8-positive and TCF7-positive cells, as well as CCL19 expression (Abstract 956).
