Immuno-Oncology

Acting 3 months ahead of schedule, the FDA approved nivolumab (Odivo) for patients with squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

The FDA has accepted a supplemental Biologics License Application for ipilimumab for the adjuvant treatment of patients with stage III melanoma at high risk of recurrence following complete resection.

An investigational antibody that targets programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in combination with bevacizumab had strong antitumor activity and induced responses in 4 of 10 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) in an open-label phase Ib study.

The FDA has granted a priority review to nivolumab for use in patients with previously treated, advanced, squamous non–small cell lung cancer.

In an analysis of phase III data, the 5-year survival rate with ipilimumab plus dacarbazine in patients with advanced melanoma was 18.2% versus 8.8% with dacarbazine alone.

In an interview with OncLive, Suzanne L. Topalian, MD, director of the Melanoma Program at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, discussed the rapid advance of nivolumab and potential next-steps.

Oncologists, hematologists, and other experts on hematologic malignancies will convene for the 19th Annual International Congress on Hematologic Malignancies, from February 20-21 in Miami, Florida, to provide insight into recent developments in the treatment of the diseases.

Julie R. Brahmer, MD, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses immunotherapy and how it can advance as a treatment option for patients with lung cancer.

The FDA has scheduled an advisory hearing to discuss the biologics license application for the immunotherapy talimogene laherparepvec as a treatment for patients with metastatic melanoma.

Suzanne Topalian, MD, professor of surgery and oncology, John Hopkins Medicine, and director of the melanoma program, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, compares biomarker detection for anti- PD-1 therapies like nivolumab to anti-CTLA-4 therapies like ipilimumab for the treatment of melanoma.

The FDA has granted an orphan drug designation to Reolysin for the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer.

The anti–PD-L1 agent MPDL3280A has received a breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA for PD-L1–positive non–small cell lung cancer that has progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy, as well as a targeted therapy for patients with EGFR- or ALK-positive tumors.

Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, a senior member at the Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the EORTC 18701 study, which compared ipilimumab with placebo for patients with stage III node-positive melanoma.

Harriet Kluger, MD, associate professor of medicine, Yale Cancer Center, talks about the toxicity of nivolumab and ipilimumab for the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma.

An increased understanding of tumor immunology has led to seven new melanoma drug approvals since 2011, including the recent approvals of the PD-1 inhibitors nivolumab (Opdivo) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda).

Ten or 15 years ago, a diagnosis of advanced non– small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) led directly to a discussion of chemotherapy.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeted against PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1 have rapidly advanced as treatments for patients with melanoma and non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), following their initial debut in 2012.

As varying immunotherapy options become available for different types of cancers, researchers will have to take the next steps in clinical studies and in practice before the growing excitement over emerging agents can truly be translated into beneficial new therapies for patients.

Kei Muro, MD, of the Aichi Cancer Center Hospital in Nagoya, Japan, discusses updated findings from the KEYNOTE-012 study, which looked at pembrolizumab for the treatment if several types of cancer.

Among patients with metastatic gastric cancer treated with the anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody pembrolizumab, the agent showed promising antitumor activity and a manageable toxicity profile.

Increased utilization of the autologous cellular immunotherapy sipuleucel-T (Provenge) led to a $20.1 million improvement in total revenue in 2014 for the manufacturer Dendreon, when compared with 2013.

Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses remaining questions regarding immunotherapies for the treatment of melanoma.

To gain insight on the integration of these agents and other immunotherapies into clinical practice, OncLive interviewed Jeffery S. Weber, MD, PhD, a senior member at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.

Nivolumab improved survival versus docetaxel in patients with pretreated squamous cell non–small cell lung cancer in the phase III CheckMate-017 trial.

Amgen and Kite Pharma have announced that they will collaborate on the development of novel CAR T-cell immunotherapies, with Amgen providing cancer targets and Kite offering its engineered autologous cell therapy platform.

Newer drugs for patients with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma

The FDA has approved the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma following treatment with ipilimumab or a BRAF inhibitor.

Metastatic melanoma is associated with a poor prognosis, but recent breakthroughs in tumor biology and immune regulation have led to the development of agents that could change clinical practice.