From the Journals

Neoadjuvant nivolumab ‘promising’ in Merkel cell carcinoma


 

Survival Outcomes

The median relapse-free survival was not reached for any of the patients who underwent surgery. At 12 and 24 months postoperatively, rates were 77.5% and 68.5%, respectively.

Among patients with pCR, relapse-free survival at 12 months was 100.0%, compared with 59.6% among those without pCR. At 24 months, it was 88.9% for those with pCR, vs 52.2% for those without pCR (hazard ratio [HR], 0.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.01 – 0.93]).

Relapse-free survival was also higher for patients with radiographic tumor reduction of ≥30% in comparison with those with reduction of <30% or progression. At 12 months, it was 100.0%, vs 56.5%; at 24 months, it was 90.9%, vs 48.5% (HR, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.01 – 0.87). No substantial difference was noted between patient subgroups with respect to tumor MCPyV status or PD-L1 expression.

Median overall survival was not reached in the entire cohort. At 12 and 24 months following the first dose of nivolumab, rates were 93.2% and 79.4%, respectively. For the patients who underwent surgery and were evaluable for pathologic response or radiographic response, 100.0% and 88.9% of patients with pCR and all patients with radiographic tumor reduction of ≥30% were alive at 12 and 24 months, respectively.

Overall survival rates among patients who underwent surgery were comparable in subgroups with regard to tumor MCPyV status and PD-L1 expression.

The study was supported by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono, the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, and the National Cancer Institute. Topalian reports relationships with Aduro, Potenza, Five Prime, Tizona, DNAtrix, FLX Bio, WindMIL, Dragonfly, ERVAXX, Trieza, Amgen, MedImmune, Merck, Compugen, DNAtrix, FLX Bio, Dynavax, Immunomic, Janssen Oncology, Immunocore, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Compugen Arbor, and NexImmune. Several coauthors have also disclosed relationships with industry.

This article first appeared on Medscape.com.

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