
5 Recent Developments in Cancer Immunotherapy
An update on some of the recent developments in the field of immuno-oncology.
The competition is getting tougher in the field of immuno-oncology (IO), especially with inhibitors developed to block the programmed death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) pathway. Although chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells have seen some success, the treatment is still in its early stages of development.
The following are some of the recent developments in IO, a treatment that is revolutionizing cancer care:
1. The going gets tough for nivolumab
Nivolumab (Opdivo), a PD-1 inhibitor developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb, was
Nivolumab is currently approved as first line for inoperable or metastatic melanoma (in combination with ipilimumab for BRaf-positive melanoma), as second line to treat metastatic squamous NSCLC following progression on platinum-based treatments, as second line in renal cell carcinoma that has progressed on antiangiogenic drugs, and as second line in Hodgkin lymphoma that has relapsed following autologous stem cell transplant.
2. Merck gains advantage with pembrolizumab
Nivolumab’s closest competitor, pembrolizumab (Keytruda), meanwhile, performed quite well in the phase 3 KEYNOTE-024 study. Following recommendations by their Data Monitoring Committee, Merck stopped the trial early and
Pembrolizumab is currently approved as first-line in advanced melanoma; in platinum-resistant, PD-L1—positive NSCLC; and NSCLC resistant to EGFR or ALK inhibitors.
3. Atezolizumab approved for bladder cancer
In May this year,
With the growing prevalence of urologic cancers, the drug is expected to do well—Global Business Intelligence Research has
4. Juno Therapeutics faces minor setback with ROCKET trial
A leader in the development of the revolutionary CAR-T cell therapy in cancer, Juno’s ROCKET trial—a phase 2 study in adult patients with relapsed or refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia—was
CAR-T cells are genetically reengineered T cells, drawn from the patient’s own body, that are forced to express chimeric antigen receptors on their cell surface to boost their ability to detect and destroy cancer cells. Following expansion in the laboratory, the cells are infused back into the patient to further multiply and attack the cancer.
5. What do payers think?
The opinion is mixed, according to Michael Kolodziej, MD, former national medical director, Oncology Strategies, at Aetna. These innovative treatments are expensive, with the drug cost alone in the $100,000 to $150,000 range. Combination and sequential treatments will further increase the cost of care when using IO agents. “I think there’s a little bit of concern among the payer community about the cost of these combination therapies. There’s also concern about the toxicities of combination therapies. At this point, most health plans would view that as an experimental approach for most patients, and they’re standing back to wait and see what happens,” Kolodziej said
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