Immuno-Oncology

A recent study found that patients with advanced solid cancers with high tumor mutational burden (TMB) saw improved outcomes on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) compared with patients who had low-TMB cancers.

These study results are the first to demonstrate randomized evidence that a personalized neoantigen approach could be beneficial for patients with cancer.

This combination is among the many cancer vaccine collaborations being pursued.

Immunotherapies are an important breakthrough in cancer treatment, but little is known about which practices adopt the therapy or the pace at which they do so.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have shown efficacy and safety for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), but barriers to referral may obstruct patient access to them.

As much as immuno-oncology has been a leap forward, the ability to address immune-related adverse events is critical to making these therapies available in settings beyond academic centers; thus, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network offers clinical guidelines for management of toxicities.

A study of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first remission found that the presence of certain variants indicative of measurable residual disease ahead of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) was associated with relapse and worse survival.

The FDA has granted accelerated approval to enfortumab vedotin-ejfv plus pembrolizumab for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who are not eligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy.

Based on promising results, the biotech IMV has moved into phase 2b trials with a cancer vaccine composed of survivin epitopes that uses the company’s proprietary delivery system to elicit persistent immune responses.

A prespecified overall survival analysis of the phase 3 ZUMA-7 trial found that axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) led to better outcomes vs the historical standard of care for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma (R/R LBCL).

The majority of CAR T-cell therapy recipients developed a humoral immune response to vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in a recent study, with a more robust vaccine schedule linked to higher antibody titers.

Kentucky passes a bill to require insurers to cover biomarker tests for patients with cancer; CDC opioid guidelines updated in November may be too late for patients with chronic pain; the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new limits to reduce dangerous human-manufactured chemicals in drinking water.

The extended follow-up results are consistent with the primary analysis of the CLEAR trial, supporting the increased efficacy of first-line lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab compared with sunitinib in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Starting immunotherapy prior to surgical resection led to better outcomes vs standard, adjuvant-only immunotherapy in a phase 2 trial of patients with advanced melanoma.

Results from a phase 2 study suggests that the oncolytic virus talimogene laherparepvec has potential to improve therapy responses for patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Despite coming at a high cost, an analysis found that in some cases, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy may be cost-effective compared with the standard of care in the second line or later for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (R/R DLBCL).

Long-term results show sustained benefit from the immunotherapy-TKI combination for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma regardless of risk profile or PD-L1 status.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy brexucabtagene autoleucel showed a rate of complete remission of 71% and a rate of complete remission with incomplete hematologic recovery of 56%, according to 3-year follow-up results.

The investigational therapy promises a new way to target HER2 while still using chemotherapy combinations.

The study suggests there is measurable amount of microbiome within the soft tissue sarcoma tumor environment, which was previously thought to be sterile.

A study published in Nature Medicine found that certain tumor mutations are more persistent and may predict immunotherapy responses more reliably than overall tumor mutational burden.

A Q-TWiST analysis of ZUMA-7 trial data suggests that axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) in the second line is beneficial to quality-adjusted survival and is a viable option for patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma after first-line chemoimmunotherapy.

At the 2022 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), customized cancer immunotherapy treatments now share the limelight with bispecific antibodies, which made news across disease states from large B-cell lymphoma to follicular lymphoma to multiple myeloma; as their name suggests, these treatments aim at 2 targets, increasing their potency against cancer.

The findings include the identification of a 12-gene signature that could be used to categorize patients as high or low risk.

During 2022, the FDA approved 2 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for use in second-line treatment, offering new treatment choices but raising the question: What options remain once a patient relapses after CAR T?

Access to and outcomes of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies may differ by characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, and geographic location among patients with cancer.

Across several Institute for Value-Based Medicine® (IVBM) events held in 2022, the most-viewed content from these events cover a variety of topics in oncology care.