Dr. Oberstein on the CheckMate 9X8 Trial in Metastatic CRC

Paul E. Oberstein, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine, director, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology Program, assistant director, Pancreatic Cancer Center, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Perlmutter Cancer Center, NYU Langone Health, discusses the phase 2/3 CheckMate 9X8 trial (NCT03414983) in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC).

CheckMate 9X8 evaluated standard-of-care chemotherapy plus bevacizumab (Avastin) with or without nivolumab (Opdivo) in the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic CRC.

The primary end point of the trial evaluated progression-free survival (PFS), and data did not show that there was a PFS benefit when adding nivolumab to standard-of-care chemotherapy, Oberstein says. The median PFS was identical in both groups, Oberstein explains.

Despite being a negative study due to the primary end point not being met, the 2-year overall survival data benefited the group that received nivolumab, Oberstein continued. Further research is needed to properly identify patients who could benefit from the addition of nivolumab to chemotherapy, Oberstein concludes.