Combination of immunotherapies improves cancer response; study

MADRID (EFE).— One of the cancer immunotherapy treatments It’s of checkpoint inhibitors, But not all patients respond well. Two new studies add another type of inhibitor to the therapy, which improves the response of patients.

The magazine “Science” published yesterday Two clinical studies in early stages and conducted separately in which that combination of therapies was tested in people with lung cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma.

Las Checkpoint inhibitor therapies eliminate protein barriers in the T cells that prevent the immune system from recognizing and attacking cancer cells in the body, but although there are several drugs approved to treat different types of cancer, many patients do not respond or develop resistance. In addition, People with cancer often exhibit chronic inflammation and immunosuppression, which may limit the response to treatment with checkpoint inhibitors.

Researchers found that adding to that therapy another therapy with Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors—drugs that treat chronic inflammation—improved patient responses. One of the studies, led by the University of Pennsylvania, analyzed the results in a small group of people with non-small cell lung cancer and the second, led by the Scripps Research Institute, did so with another person suffering from Hodgkin lymphoma.

In the case of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, the team conducted a phase II clinical trial with 21 people to investigate the use of the JAK1 inhibitor itacitinib in combination with the anti-PD-1 checkpoint pembrolizumab.

Delayed administration of itacitinib after pembrolizumab treatment improved immunotherapy response. Median progression-free survival was nearly two years, compared with 6.5 to 10.3 months seen in other trials with checkpoint inhibitors alone.

He another clinical trial in phase I was with Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients refractory relapsed patients who had previously received checkpoint inhibitors but did not respond or showed a mixed response. The researchers focused on using a combination of ruxolitinib, a JAK1 and JAK2 inhibitor, and the anti-PD-1 drug nivolumab.

Administration of ruxolitinib eight days prior to initiation of nivolumab therapy resulted in improved clinical efficacy, the paper notes.

Among the 19 participants, overall survival was 87% at two years, compared with previous reports of 23.8% with checkpoint inhibitors alone.

These two clinical trials “They are notable because they pave the way for a possible new therapeutic strategy,” Science senior editor Priscilla Kelly said in an accompanying commentary.