Immuno-Oncology

The bounty of choices is good news for patients with melanoma, several key questions have emerged: Should immunotherapy or targeted agents be the first-line choice for metastatic melanoma?

The FDA has granted a priority review to atezolizumab as a treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy in the metastatic setting, or whose disease worsened within 12 months of receiving platinum-based chemotherapy before or after surgery.

Matthew Galsky, MD, explains the challenges of utilizing molecular subtyping and PD-L1 as biomarkers, the impact a potential approval of atezolizumab could have in metastatic bladder cancer, possible combinations that could increase ORR, and next steps in understanding the IMvigor study.

James L. Gulley, MD, PhD, Chief, Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Senior Investigator, Head, Immunotherapy Section, Director, Medical Oncology Service, CCR Office of the Clinical Director, National Cancer Institute, discusses checkpoint inhibitors in bladder cancer.

Jorge Garcia, MD, discusses CheckMate-025, the challenges with PD-1 as a biomarker, additional potential biomarkers, and why combination immunotherapy in renal cell carcinoma is still a work in progress.

Benjamin Levy, MD, discusses how nivolumab and pembrolizumab have impacted the treatment landscape of NSCLC, how to choose between the two for patients, and what biomarkers are in development for PD-1/PD-L1 agents.

The FDA has accepted a supplemental new drug application for pembrolizumab as a treatment for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer with PD-L1 expression on ≥1% of tumors cells.

Michael Postow, MD, discusses the benefits and challenges of combination regimens versus single-agent regimens, the possibility of targeted agents with immunotherapies, and the management of toxicities with immunotherapies.

Michael Atkins, MD, discusses his views on the potential of immunotherapy versus targeted therapy in melanoma, what research has shown so far, and what could be on horizon for both classes of drugs going forward.

Chandra P. Belani, MD, Miriam Beckner Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, deputy director, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, discusses how the FDA approval of nivolumab (Opdivo) has impacted the treatment paradigm of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Tara C. Mitchell, MD, assistant professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, discusses atypical responses with immunotherapies in melanoma.

Randal S. Weber, MD, FACS, professor, department chair, John Brooks Williams and Elizabeth Williams Distinguished University Chair in Cancer Medicine, Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses future treatment approaches for patients with melanoma.

Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, discusses recent long-term follow-up data of dabrafenib and trametinib in melanoma that may shed some light on sequencing questions for BRAF-mutated patients.

Omid Hamid, MD, discusses promising agents and combinations that offer hope to patients with melanoma for whom standard checkpoint agents and/or targeted therapies are not an option.

New research is carving out a role for ipilimumab and a second CTLA-4-targeting drug, tremelimumab, as combination therapy with potential in a variety of solid tumors. In addition to combinations with other immune checkpoint inhibitors, the agents are being evaluated across a breadth of other strategies.

The phase III SUNRISE trial comparing bavituximab plus docetaxel with docetaxel and placebo for patients with non–small cell lung cancer has been halted following a futility analysis.