Immuno-Oncology

Review findings outline the gut microbiome's potential impact on immunotherapy responses.

Compared with chemotherapy, patients receiving avelumab or another immunotherapy had higher response rates and higher rates of survival in locally advanced Merkel cell carcinoma (laMCC) and metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (mMCC).

The researchers identified 3 immune subtypes of esophageal cancer (EC) among the samples, all of which had different prognostic implications.

Although there is hope chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy can revolutionize how to treat glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), there is still more research to be done, say investigators, noting that research on CAR T-cell therapy in this setting is still in early stages.

However, researchers also noted that similar to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, CAR-NK cell treatment comes with its own set of challenges.

Data from IMpower 130, IMpower 132, and IMpower 150 confirm that combining atezolizumab with chemotherapy is the best first-line treatment in advanced NSCLC when anti-PD-L1 therapy is indicated.

ZUMA-7 results indicate axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) improves event-free survival among adult patients with second-line relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL).

Yescarta, the first and only approved chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for these patients, was shown to achieve durable responses in a majority of patients and reduced the risk of death compared with other treatments.

Previous research has suggested the efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor natural killer (CAR-NK) cells in hematological malignancies, and more recently, preclinical findings have raised the question of whether the type of treatment could be a viable, potentially more attractive option for solid tumors.

Larry D. Anderson Jr, MD, PhD, associate professor, Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses updated findings of the phase II KarMMa trial assessing ide-cel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma after 4 or more prior lines of therapy.

Camille Hertzka, vice president and head of Oncology, US Medical, AstraZeneca, discussed updated findings of the PACIFIC trial that indicated a third of patients with unresectable non-small cell lung cancer are stable at 5 years.

The study's lead author said researchers have searched for a generation for an effective therapy to give to high-risk patients with renal cell carcinoma after initial surgery for the tumor.

Also, phase 2 results for atezolizumab presented during the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology could help patients in same setting who need another option.

Kirk Shepard, MD, chief medical officer, senior vice president, and head of Global Medical Affairs, Eisai, discusses findings of a study showcasing similar health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores between lenvatinib/pembrolizumab vs chemotherapy in patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma.

Robert Iannone, MD, MSCE, executive vice president of research and development for Jazz Pharmaceuticals, addresses findings of an abstract presented at ASCO 2021 which showed preliminary efficacy of lurbinectedin in combination with irinotecan in patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma.

Various clinical trials are assessing the potential of neoantigen-based cancer vaccines.

Researchers outlined novel approaches to prevent and manage cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which occurs frequently in patients receiving chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy.

As a validated health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measurement is not widely used among patients receiving this type of treatment, trials take advantage of traditional HRQOL tools.

According to researchers, the findings suggest that receiving ibrutinib improves the activity of anti-CD19-CAR T cells.

Strategies for improving outcomes across hematologic cancers and solid tumors range from addressing cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity mediators, immune rejection, on-target off-tumor toxicity, post-infusion control limitation, and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.

In a recent review, researchers compiled possible reactions and toxicities that span 6 categories.

Dostarlimab, for patients with recurrent or advanced deficient mismatch repair endometrial cancer, and a companion diagnostic, were recently approved by the FDA.

Tuesday marked the first of 3 days of hearings on whether checkpoint inhibitors should keep indications after follow-up studies failed to show benefits that led to accelerated approval.