A new immunotherapeutic strategy, combining ipilimumab and nivolumab, gives very promising results in ovarian cancer in the relapse phase.
The addition of ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the immunomodulatory CTLA-4 receptor, to nivolumab, a PD1 inhibitor, the tumor cell camouflage process, is believed to improve tumor response and progression-free survival in women with dementia. ‘recurrent ovarian cancer.
These results were presented in a late-breaking session at the 17th meeting of the International Society for Gynecological Cancer (IGCS) in Kyoto, Japan.
A preliminary randomized study
The study evaluated the difference in tumor response in 100 women over a six-month period who were randomized between nivolumab alone and a combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab, followed by nivolumab alone as treatment for interview.
Six responses (12.2%) were observed in the monotherapy group and 16 (31.4%) in the combination immunotherapy group. One more response appeared in the combination group after the six-month evaluation period. There is an increased risk of adverse events (grade 3 or higher) but no treatment-related deaths.
An innovation for a cancer that is difficult to treat
Ovarian cancer is a disease difficult to diagnose early because of its quiet progression and the rarity of specific clinical signs that characterize it. Most cancers are therefore diagnosed at a late stage when treatments are less effective. This combination of immunotherapy seems to meet the hopes that were placed in it.
“From my perspective, this is the first evidence that adding a CTLA4 immunomodulator to targeted PD-1 therapy in patients with ovarian cancer may be more effective than therapy. targeted PD-1, as a first-line treatment as an adjunct to standard chemotherapy, “said Robert A. Burger, who presented this preliminary study and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
The study was a preliminary trial that was not designed to detect a difference in overall survival, which is the scope of a future controlled study.
Burger RA, Sill M, Zamarin D, Powell D, Frak I, Zivanovic O, Gunderson C, Ko E, Matthews C, Sharma S, Hagemann A, Khleif S, Aghajanian C. (2018, September). NRG Oncology Phase II Randomized Trial of Nivolumab with or without Ipilimumab in Patients with Persistent or Recurrent Ovarian Cancer. Abstract presented at the Biennial Meeting of the International Gynecologic Cancer Society (IGCS), Kyoto, Japan.
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