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Key Developments in Cancer Immunotherapy
at the AACR 2016 Annual Meeting

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2016 Annual Meeting is currently underway in New Orleans, Louisiana. Educational sessions, many of which were presented by members and leaders of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), have presented several key developments focused on clinical trials in cancer immunotherapy, which are noted below.

Combination therapy with nivolumab/ipilumamab illustrates improved survival in advanced melanoma

The latest results of the phase II CheckMate-069 trial evaluating the efficacy of combination immune checkpoint blockade in patients with advanced melanoma were released. Highlights of this study, presented by SITC member Dr. Michael Postow of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, include a two-year overall survival of 64% in the total study population treated with the combination of nivolumab (anti-PD-1) and ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4) versus 54% for those treated with ipilimumab alone. For BRAF wild-type patients, two-year overall survival was 69% with the combination immunotherapy compared with 53% for the ipilimumab monotherapy. Notably, the median overall survival has not yet been reached among patients receiving combination therapy. Learn more by watching the video interview produced by OncLive.

First of its kind CD4+ T cell immunotherapy offers evidence of efficacy in metastatic malignancies

SITC member Dr. Yong-Chen Lu from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, reported on a novel phase I clinical trial utilizing genetically-engineered CD4+ T cell immunotherapy for the treatment of metastatic solid cancers. This study, in which HLA-DPB1*0401-restricted T cells specific for the MAGE-A3 antigen (present in up to 33% of tumor specimens) were adoptively transferred into patients, has yielded ongoing objective partial responses in three out of 14 patients with a variety of metastatic cancer types, and has laid the foundation for a phase II study that is now underway. Watch the OncLive video interview to learn more about this phase I trial.

Five-year survival follow-up of patients who received anti-PD-1 immunotherapy for advanced melanoma

The most extensive follow-up on long-term overall survival following nivolumab monotherapy  in previously treated patients with advanced melanoma was presented by SITC Secretary/Treasurer Dr. Stephen Hodi of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The robustness of this well-tolerated immunotherapeutic intervention is underscored by the 34% overall survival observed with no new deaths or safety signals five years after discontinuing treatment. Watch the video for more information.

PD-L1 expression levels in advanced melanoma correlate with pembrolizumab monotherapeutic outcomes

In a follow-up to KEYNOTE-006, a phase III trial that demonstrated superior outcomes following treatment with pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1) compared with ipilimumab as a first-line therapy for advanced melanoma, Dr. Matteo Carlino discussed recent data focused on expression of the T cell inhibitor PD-L1 on tumor and surrounding immune cells. This study revealed a correlation between the number of cells expressing PD-L1 and improvement in survival when treated with pembrolizumab compared with those treated with ipilimumab alone. However, a therapeutic benefit was also observed in PD-L1-negative patients who received pembrolizumab.

Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC)
555 East Wells Street, Suite 1100 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202-3823 USA
Phone: +1 414 271 2456 | Email: info@sitcancer.org

© 2016 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer

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