Next Steps in Anal Carcinoma Research

Charles J. Schneider, MD, FACP, clinical professor of Medicine at the Abramson Cancer Center at Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, discusses some of the ongoing research examining patients with anal cell carcinoma.

Currently, immunotherapy and targeted therapy are used when treating patients with anal carcinoma. The 2 PD-1 inhibitors, nivolumab (Opdivo) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda), have become the standard of care for patients with advanced disease who are resistant to chemotherapy.

According to Schneider, studies are investigating new agents that will hopefully add to the treatment paradigm for early-stage disease. Experts hope these new additions will improve survival and outcomes for these patients.

Transcription:

0:08 | We have a lot of research ongoing. For instance, we just completed accruing nationally to a trial through the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group that assigned patients after receiving potentially curative and intensive chemotherapy radiation for early disease, assigning them to either observation, which is our standard of care vs 6 months of immunotherapy using the drug nivolumab. That's an exciting trial that's been completed, and we're just waiting for results. We are hoping that adding immunotherapy to the treatment paradigm for early-stage disease will improve survival in that group even higher.

0:55 | Second is localized disease. There's an ongoing trial that's looking at lowering the amount of radiation given which would reduce toxicity from radiation to the area to the pelvis, while still hopefully maintaining high cure rates. In advanced disease, there are many trials that are looking at different immunotherapy drugs, and also adding immunotherapy to chemotherapy, which would be the logical next step.