Dr. Rosenberg on Dosing of Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab in Bladder Cancer

Jonathan E. Rosenberg, MD, medical oncologist, chief, Genitourinary Medical Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses dosing for the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma at the 2018 ESMO Congress.

Data from the CheckMate-032 trial support the use of dosing of nivolumab at 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab at 3 mg/kg. In the comparison of the nivolumab plus ipilimumab arm that gave patients each agent at 1 mg/kg, the higher dose of ipilimumab was superior in terms of response rate and duration of response (DoR).

Rosenberg says that the higher dosage of ipilimumab was linked to more activity with an acceptable toxicity profile. The higher dosing showed an approximately 12% higher response rate, and the DoR appear longer. Although the data on overall survival (OS) are still premature, right now, OS it is about 15 months for the higher dosage of ipilimumab versus 8 to 9 months with the lower dosage. If these data are confirmed in a phase III randomized trial, Rosenberg says this combination at this dosages would move the field of urothelial carcinoma forward.

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