Immunotherapy News from the ASCO Annual Meeting

Thomas Hutson, DO, PharmD, FACP has updated reported efficacy results from the phase 2 CLEAR study.

A second-generation 4chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell agent has induced responses in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma treated in a phase 1 study.

Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD, discusses an updated analysis presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting that looked at pembrolizumab (MK-3475) for patients with melanoma.

The anti-PD-1 humanized antibody pembrolizumab (MK-3475) has robust antitumor activity as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced PD-L1-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Gregory A. Daniels, MD, PhD, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, University of California, San Diego, discusses the findings of the 2007-2012 PROCLAIM national registry

Thomas E. Hutson, DO, PharmD, medical oncologist, Texas Oncology–Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center, discusses a phase I study of BPX-201 vaccine plus AP1903 for chemotherapy-naïve mCRPC.

David Spigel, MD, director, Lung Cancer Research Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, provides an update on research into MPDL3280A for the treatment of patients with lung cancer.

Ezra Cohen, MD, professor of medicine, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, discusses new data on immunotherapies for head and neck cancers.

James P. Allison, PhD, director, immunotherapy platform, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the potentiation of immune checkpoint blockade cancer immunotherapy with oncolytic virus.

Phase I results presented in 2013 from a study combining ipilimumab with the anti-PD-1 antibody, nivolumab,1 showed a 40% objective response rate in 53 patients with advanced melanoma and a preliminary overall survival (OS) of 80%.

The intratumoral injection talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) demonstrated promise in combinations and utility as a monotherapy in certain subsets of patients with unresectable melanoma.

Pembrolizumab continues to deliver impressive results in patients with advanced melanoma—producing long-lasting responses and improved overall survival, regardless of whether patients have been previously treated with ipilimumab.

The immunotherapy drug ipilimumab (Yervoy) reduced the relative risk of cancer recurrence in the adjuvant setting by 25% compared to placebo for patients with high-risk, lymph-node positive (stage III) melanoma.

Two patients with metastatic cervical cancer achieved durable complete responses that have so far lasted from 15 to 22 months through an adoptive T-cell therapy (ACT) targeting the human papillomavirus (HPV).

MPDL3280A received the first Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA for bladder cancer, according to information released May 31, 2014 at the 50th Annual Meeting of ASCO.