Dr. Vokes on Nivolumab, Pembrolizumab Approvals in Head and Neck Cancer

Everett Vokes, MD, John E. Ultmann Professor of Medicine and Radiation Oncology, physician-in-chief, University of Chicago Medical Center, chair, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago Medicine, discusses the FDA approvals of the PD-L1 inhibitors nivolumab (Opdivo) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer.

The FDA approved nivolumab for patients with metastatic or recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck following progression on platinum-based therapy in November 2016. The approval is based on the CheckMate-141 study, in which the median overall survival with nivolumab was 7.5 months compared with 5.1 months with investigator's choice. The objective response rate was 13.3% with nivolumab and 5.8% for investigator's choice.