IMMUNOTHERAPY

The phase I KEYNOTE-022 study, which tested pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) for BRAF-mutant advanced melanoma, has shown a manageable toxicity profile in patients with BRAF V600-mutant melanoma.

Nivolumab (Opdivo) monotherapy showed improved overall survival (OS) and objective response rates for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) compared with the investigator's choice of alternative therapy, according to data presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Neratinib, an experimental TKI being developed for breast cancer, achieved a 36% clinical benefit rate in a phase II trial, according to a poster presented June 5, 2016 at the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Arjun V. Balar, MD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine, co-leader of the Genitourinary Cancers Program, discusses updated results of cohort 1 of the IMvigor 210 study.

A majority of patients (66%) with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) who had progressed after receiving autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) and brentuximab vedotin (adcetris) experienced a response to nivolumab (Opdivo) monotherapy, findings from the phase II CheckMate-205 trial showed when presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Combination therapy nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) resulted in reduced disease progression risk of 58% when compared with ipilimumab alone in patients with advanced melanoma. Additionally, nivolumab monotherapy showed greater risk reduction (45%) compared with ipilimumab single-agent treatment.

Updated findings from the phase III CheckMate-057 and -017 trials showed sustained improvements in overall survival (OS) data of nivolumab (Opdivo) treatment in pretreated patients with nonsquamous or squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Three years after the pembrolizumab (Keytruda) clinical trial for advanced melanoma that led to the drug's FDA approval, 40% of the patients are still alive.

A new treatment consisting of genetically engineered CD4 T cells could have potential in all metastatic cancers, according to Yong-Chen William Lu, PhD.

Combination immunotherapy could easily be on the horizon for patients, but cost effectiveness plays a major role in its implementation, according to Samir Khleif, MD.

Immunotherapies have been tested in melanoma, breast, prostate, kidney, and lung cancers, and are now being studied in advanced gastric cancers.

Todd Murphree, PharmD, pharmacist, Clearview Cancer Institute, discusses measuring the quality and value of having oncology pharmacy accreditation.

Sue Naeyaert, senior director of Biosimilars Policy, EMD Serono, discusses the long-term impact that biosimilars could potentially have on the field of oncology.

The FDA has granted an accelerated approval to nivolumab for patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma following relapse or progression after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and post-transplantation brentuximab vedotin.

Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, professor of medicine at Yale University Cancer Center discusses the IMvigor Study, which looked at anti PD-1 agent atezolizumab in advanced urothelial carcinoma.

By working together, the potential for clinical benefit in patients with cancer is increasingly bright.

​Louis B. Harrison, discusses the recent opportunities to combine radiation therapy and immunotherapy.

Kaufman recently coined the term "precision immunology" to describe the use of host, immune system and tumor factors as biomarkers to select immunotherapy approaches. But, are we ready to integrate precision immunology into clinical practice?

The PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab has gained priority review status from the FDA as a treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC).

Gangadhar says this preference toward single-agent immunotherapy is due to a lack of evidence supporting the use of a combination immunotherapy approach. The other reason a dual approach is less utilized in melanoma patients is due to the significant increase in toxicities.

The FDA has recieved a supplemental new drug application for a combination of ofatumumab (Arzerra), fludarabine, and cyclophosphamide, for patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab (MPDL3280A) showed promising antitumor activity in patients with inoperable locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma whose disease had progressed after previous platinum-based chemotherapy.

In this article, Priyanka Bhateja, MD, and Neelesh Sharma, MD, PhD review the completed trials and ongoing clinical development of pembrolizumab in NSCLC.

Seiwert says in general, immunotherapies produce a response rate of between 20- to 25%, 1 in 4 patients respond, and the treatment type is equally effective in both HPV-positive and HPV-negative disease.

Despite limited information on treatment options for mucosal melanoma, Richard Joseph, MD, says immunotherapies could be a rewarding challenge for oncologists to undertake in the field.