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OESOPHAGEAL CANCER

Nivolumab plus chemotherapy or ipilimumab for advanced oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 19, page 216 (2022)Cite this article

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In an open-label, phase III trial (CheckMate 648), 970 adult patients with advanced, previously untreated oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive either nivolumab (an immunotherapy drug) plus chemotherapy, nivolumab plus ipilimumab (another immunotherapy drug), or chemotherapy alone. At follow-up of ≥13 months, overall survival (a primary end point) was significantly longer in the nivolumab plus ipilimumab group than in the chemotherapy group (median 13.2 versus 10.7 months; HR 0.74; 99.1% CI 0.58–0.96; P = 0.002), as well as in the nivolumab plus chemotherapy group compared with the chemotherapy group (median 12.7 versus 10.7 months; HR 0.78; 98.2% CI 0.62–0.98; P = 0.01). Progression-free survival (also a primary end point) was significantly longer in the nivolumab plus chemotherapy group than in the chemotherapy alone group, but not in the nivolumab plus ipilimumab group, for patients with tumour cell PDL1 expression of ≥1%. The safety profiles were consistent with the previously known safety profiles of the individual drugs.

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References

Original article

  • Doki, Y. et al. Nivolumab combination therapy in advanced esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma. N. Engl. J. Med. 386, 449–462 (2022)

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  1. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology http://www.nature.com/nrgastro/

    Jordan Hindson

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  1. Jordan Hindson
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Correspondence to Jordan Hindson.

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Hindson, J. Nivolumab plus chemotherapy or ipilimumab for advanced oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 19, 216 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-022-00601-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-022-00601-1

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