ASCO 2021 to feature Australian trial results
Australian oncologists will be among thousands of participants in the world’s largest cancer scientific meeting when the ASCO 2021 conference begins on Friday 4 June. The meeting will be all virtual, and will include presentations from Professor Georgina Long of the University of Sydney, who will report ‘breakthrough’ results from a trial of relatlimab, targeting the LAG-3 protein in melanoma.
According to Professor Long, findings from the RELATIVITY-047 trial showed that in previously untreated advanced melanoma patients, combining relatlimab with nivolumab doubled the progression free survival time compared to the use of nivolumab alone (10.1 vs 4.6 months respectively).
At one year, almost 50% of patients on the combination therapy had no disease progression, whereas nearly two-thirds of patients on the single therapy had progressed.
Checkpoint inhibitor option for hard to treat bladder cancer
Pembrolizumab monotherapy has shown promising antitumour activity in patients with BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer who declined or were ineligible for radical cystectomy.
Cohort A of the phase 2 KEYNOTE-057 study comprised 101 patients assigned to pembrolizumab 200 mg intravenously every 3 weeks for up to 24 months.
The study found 41% of the group had a complete response at three months.
The treatment was considered tolerable with grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events, including arthralgia and hyponatraemia, in 13% of patients.
The study concluded that pembrolizumab should be considered a clinically active non-surgical treatment option in a difficult-to-treat population.