T-VEC Immunotherapy Shows Promising Early Activity in Melanoma
Source: Cancer Network, June 2018
Twelve weeks of neoadjuvant exposure to talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) was associated with few high-grade toxicities and a promising pathological complete tumor-response (pCR) rate, according to research (abstract 9508) presented at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, held June 1–5 in Chicago.
The interim analysis of neoadjuvant T-VEC demonstrates impressive clinical response in resectable disease,” commented Joshua M.V. Mammen, MD, PhD, of the University of Kansas in Kansas City in a poster-discussion panel. Mammen was not involved in the study.
However, 11 patients (14.5%) in the T-VEC study arm experienced disease progression before surgery could be performed. That might reflect the “high risk of developing metastases inherent within this study population,” and some of those patients were unlikely to have benefitted from surgery, the study authors argued.