Taking Immune-Boosting Drug Before Lung Cancer Surgery Boosts Response Rates: Study

Using an immune-system boosting drug along with chemotherapy before undergoing lung cancer surgery may help increase response rates, doctors say.

As part of a study, called the CheckMate-816 trial, a team of doctors looked at the effects of using an immune-boosting drug, Opdivo, along with chemotherapy in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), Fierce Pharma reported.

At a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research on Saturday, the team reported that 24% of those who used Opdivo along with chemotherapy before the surgery showed no signs of cancer cells in the tissues after the procedure. By comparison, the rate was 2.2% among those who received only chemotherapy prior to the procedure.

Those who took Opdivo with chemotherapy had increased pathological complete response (pCR) rates, which means there is "no residual viable tumor in the resected lung specimen and the sampled lymph node after surgery and event-free survival," PM Live explained.

The benefits were observed across subgroups, including gender and disease stage. Using Opdivo in patients' pre-surgery therapy also didn't affect their chances of getting the surgery.

Checkpoint inhibitors for cancers

Opdivo, with the generic name Nivolumab, is a cancer treatment drug for immunotherapy. It works is by blocking the protein that stops the immune system from targeting cancer cells, Cancer Research U.K. explained.

It helps in making the immune system actually "find and kill" the cancer cells.

Opdivo and other checkpoint inhibitors are used for different types of cancers after surgery. Many studies are now looking at its benefits before surgery. In the latest study, wherein the patients were given three rounds of the chemotherapy plus Opdivo a few weeks apart, the use of Opdivo before the surgery showed benefits when compared to using chemotherapy alone.

The research team is now trying to find out whether the combination of Opdivo and chemotherapy can help prevent the tumors from coming back or prolong patients' lives, Mark Rutstein, the lead for Opdivo development at Bristol Myers Squibb, told Fierce Pharma.

Some recent studies found that the drug was useful in other cancers as well. Opdivo's post-surgery benefits include reducing the risk of death in muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma compared to a placebo and preventing the recurrence of esophageal cancer for close to two years, the outlet said.