Defining Locally Advanced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Gino K. In, MD, MPH, of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Lara A. Dunn, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, open a discussion of newly reported long-term follow-up data on cosibelimab in locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Dr Dunn defines the locally advanced population as patients with primary or recurrent extensive disease in whom surgery and/or radiation therapy either will not achieve cure or would produce significant functional impairment or cosmetic deficit. She clarifies an important distinction for interpreting the data that follows: in the study under discussion, the locally advanced cohort comprises primary tumor only, with nodal disease captured separately in the metastatic cohort. Dr Dunn outlines where immune checkpoint inhibitors fit for these patients, including those ineligible for curative-intent local therapy because of comorbidities or the anticipated morbidity of the procedures themselves, establishing the clinical context for the updated efficacy and safety findings reviewed in subsequent segments.