IMMUNOTHERAPY

Avelumab showed early positive survival data and lasting responses for patients with pretreated advanced or metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma, according to findings from the phase II JAVELIN Merkel 200 trial presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda), when studied in 2 clinical trials for the treatment of patients with pretreated recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), showed an objective response rate (ORR) of 18%, according to findings presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Nivolumab (Opdivo) treatment provided antitumor responses in patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), whether given as a single agent or in combination with ipilimumab (Yervoy). Interim data from the phase II CheckMate-142 trial was presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Patients with recurrent glioblastoma mutliforme reacted well to nivolumab (Opdivo) monotherapy, according to findings from the CheckMate-143 trial that were presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. The single agent showed a manageable safety profile and promising efficacy signs during the course of the study.

Discontinuing nivolumab-ipilimumab treatment because of adverse events did not have a detrimental effect on survival among patients with advanced melanoma, follow-up from a randomized trial showed.

In a phase Ib study, combining talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), an oncolytic virus, with pembrolizumab at full doses had an acceptable safety profile, with evidence of clinical benefit in patients with advanced melanoma.

Infusion with 19-28z chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modified T-cells led to complete response (CR) rates of 77% to 90% and minimal residual disease (MRD)-CR rates of 68% to 70% in adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (B-ALL).

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?