IMMUNOTHERAPY

Maria Svensson, MD, Lund University, discusses the growing interest in checkpoint inhibitor blockade treatments for gastrointestinal cancers. In the past, there have been promising results with this treatment in metastatic disease.

Alexander M. Eggermont, MD, PhD, director general of Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus Grand Paris in Villejuif, France, discusses the history of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment landscape of melanoma.

Researchers’ understanding of why patients with cancer do or do not respond to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibition is constantly evolving, with new developments in innate and adaptive immunity, the tumor microenvironment, and more changing the way that immunotherapy is viewed and used. Many researchers are now pointing to the effect that gut microbiota have on patients’ response to checkpoint inhibitors and its implications for the treatment of patients receiving immunotherapy.

On May 18, 2018, the FDA released a safety alert concerning decreased survival observed in 2 separate ongoing first-line randomized clinical trials of checkpoint inhibitors in metastatic urothelial cancer for patients treated in the monotherapy arms with low PD-L1 expression compared with patients who received cisplatin- or carboplatin-based chemotherapy.

According to updated data from the phase I/II PIVOT-02 trial presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, the combination of NKTR-214 plus the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab demonstrated promising antitumor activity in patients with advanced solid tumors, particularly in PD-L1–negative patients.

Following a planned interim analysis, 2 early-phase clinical trials exploring daratumumab in combination with either a PD-1 inhibitor for multiple myeloma or a PD-L1 inhibitor for non–small cell lung cancer have been terminated, according to a statement from Genmab, the company codeveloping daratumumab with Janssen.

Editori-in-Chief of <em>Targeted Therapies in Oncology </em>discusses the importance of KEYNOTE-189 which investigated whether the best frontline treatment for any patient is chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or a combination of the 2. Data from the IMpower150 and CheckMate 227 also investigate this question in various patient populations.

Amanda Ramos, MD, a first-year fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, discusses the future potential of checkpoint inhibition therapy in the treatment of patients with recurrent endometrial cancers.

In the first report of the full cohort of 119 patients in the CheckMate-142 study, positive results were demonstrated with nivolumab alone or in combination with ipilimumab in patients with previously treated microsatellite instability-high or DNA mismatch repair-deficient metastatic colorectal cancer.

Daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with&nbsp;bortezomib (Velcade), melphalan, and prednisone received FDA approval as a frontline regimen for the treatment of&nbsp;patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplant.

A 4-week dosing schedule for&nbsp;nivolumab has been approved by the European&nbsp;Commission&nbsp;for the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma and previously treated renal cell carcinoma, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), the manufacturer of the PD-1 inhibitor, has announced.

Findings, presented at the 2018 AACR Annual Meeting, demonstrated that an off-the-shelf, dual-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell approach found positive results in preclinical&nbsp;specificity, functionality, and efficacy studies.

David M. Nanus, MD, chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine, discusses the use of immunotherapy in the community setting. He also gives advice to community oncologists that are using these treatments in their practice.&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;

<strong>IN THIS ISSUE OF </strong><em>The Journal of Targeted Therapies in Cancer</em>&trade;, 2 articles in particular impressed me as reflective of the evolution and development of therapeutic possibilities for patients with recurrent and metastatic epithelial cancers. Although the 2 may initially seem to have distinct focuses, it is now becoming apparent that combinatorial strategies harnessing conventional modalities such as radiation therapy and immune stimulatory approaches may have additional value for this population of patients.