Dr. Davids on Checkpoint Blockade Inhibition in Hematologic Malignancies After Stem Cell Transplant

Matthew S. Davids, MD, Associate Director, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Center for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, discusses a study that explored optimizing checkpoint blockade as a treatment for relapsed hematologic malignancies after allogenic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

This is a very challenging area, because patients have limited options, Davids says. Overall survival is typically poor — in the range of 6 months or less.

In previously published results, ipilimumab (Yervoy) was shown to induce responses in patients with lymphoid and myeloid malignancies in this patient population. At the ASH Annual Meeting, Davids presented updated results to show the long-term follow-up for these patients. Findings showed the median overall survival is 28 months, which is significantly longer than patients treated with traditional therapies.