Articles related to IMMUNOTHERAPY

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.

In an interim look at the SKYSCRAPER-01 study, investigators found tiragolumab plus atezolizumab didn’t meaningfully slow tumor progression compared to atezolizumab alone in patients with advanced, newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Tiragolumab has now fallen short in two phase 3 lung cancer trials, having already missed its study objectives in advanced SCLC earlier this year.

A phase II study of durvalumab alone or combined with the anti-CD73 monoclonal antibody oleclumab or anti-NKG2A monoclonal antibody monalizumab as consolidation therapy in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC and no progression after concurrent chemoradiotherapy. With a median follow-up of 11.5 months, both combinations increased ORR and prolonged PFS versus durvalumab alone. Safety was similar across arms with no new or significant safety signals identified with either combination.

Perelman School of Medicine’s David Teachey, MD, reviews outcomes and implications from two recent Children’s Oncology Group trials and describes current research with daratumumab and CAR T-cell therapy.