Articles related to IMMUNOTHERAPY

Following treatment of the 40 study patients with bevacizumab and atezolizumab, OS was observed in 4 patients with pNETs (20%) and 3 patients with epNETs (15%). The PFS was 14.9 months and 14.2 months in these cohorts, respectively. The findings suggest that clinical responses in patients with NET may follow treatment with the combination of bevacizumab and atezolizumab, with a PFS consistent with effective therapies.

The authors investigated expression of PD-L1 and V-domain Ig-containing suppressor of T cell activation (VISTA) in ACC and their associations with clinicopathological features and survival outcomes. They report that a higher VISTA expression intensity, a larger area, and a higher immunoscore were associated with increased risks of disease progression and overall mortality. However, PD-L1 expression in tumor cells or tumor-infiltrating immune cells was not associated with OS or DFS. The study points to the potential value of VISTA, in addition to PD-L1, as an immunotherapeutic target in ACC.

With a median follow-up of more than 2.5 years, sintilimab added to chemotherapy improved OS in patients with advanced, nonsquamous NSCLC. The median OS was 24.2 months with sintilimab and 16.8 months with chemotherapy alone. Nearly half of patients in the chemotherapy-only arm crossed over to receive sintilimab after disease progression. When the data were adjusted for the crossover effect, the OS benefit derived from sintilimab was more pronounced.

In this trial of nivolumab + chemotherapy vs. chemotherapy alone, nivolumab prolonged EFS by nearly 11 months and improved the pathologic complete response rate more than tenfold. There was also a trend toward improved OS with nivolumab. The study also reported an EFS improvement with nivolumab in both squamous and non-squamous NSCLC. Grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 34% of patients in the nivolumab arm and 37% of those in the chemotherapy-alone arm.

Nivolumab plus ipilimumab added to standard of care chemotherapy did not improve outcomes as 1st line therapy for unresectable or metastatic bladder cancers with PD-L1 expression > 1%.

CAR T-cell therapy has changed the treatment paradigm for relapsed/refractory aggressive B-cell NHL. The approach has seen strong response rates and durable remission in those whose disease has progressed despite multiple prior treatments. This review outlines current indications for CAR T-cell therapy, major toxicities, novel CARs under investigation, CARs for various hematologic malignancies, and future directions.