Abstract on anti-PD1 (MDX 1106)...

...or...BMS-936558 if you prefer the Bristol Myers handle.  ASCO abstract from:  Hodi, Sznol, McDermott, Carvajal, Lawrence, Topalian, Wigginton, McDonald, Kollia, Gupta, Sosman.....AT:  Dana-Farber (Boston), Yale (New Haven, CT), Beth Israel (Boston), Memorial Sloan-Kettering (New York), Massachusetts General (Boston), John Hopkins (Baltimore), Vanderbilt (Nashville, TN)

NOTE:  My synopsis:

"BMS-936558...given IV every 2 weeks, to [240] patients [95 were patients with previously treated advanced melanoma] with various solid tumors at...0.1 to 10mg/kg...Patients got up to 12 cycles (4 doses per cycle) or until progressive disease or complete response.  RESULTS: Of 240 patients treated as of July 1, 2011, 95 melanoma patients were treated...at 0.1 (n=13), 0.3 (n=17), 1 (n-28), 3 (n=17), or 10mg/kg (n=20).  The majority of [the melanoma] patients (60/95) had...prior immunotherapy, primarily interferon or IL-2 (prior anti-CTLA-4 [ipi...was] excluded).  Prior B-raf...was noted in 7/95.  Sites of metastatic disease: lymph node (n=60), liver (n=32), lung (n=55), bone (n=10).  Median duration of therapy was 15 weeks (max = 120 weeks) with 40 patients still on treatment.  ...Grade 3/4 adverse events = 19% and included GI (4%), endocrine (2%), hepatobiliary (1%).  No drug related deaths [reported] in the melanoma patients. Clinical activity was noted at all drug levels.  Of 20 patients with overall response at time of data lock, 12 had overall response >/= 1 year, and 6 patients with overall response had duration between 1.9 and 11.3 months.  Several patients had prolonged stable disease. Some patients had a persistent decrease in overall tumor burden in presence of new lesions and were not categorized as responders.  CONCLUSION:  Drug had durable clinical benefit in patients with advanced melanoma, including those with prior immunotherapy.  Further development is ongoing."

My thoughts:  No brain mets were allowed.  Response rate is roughly 21% thus far, but apparently 40 patients are still in treatment, therefore their response has yet to be tabulated.  So...if you look at it as 20 patients out of 55 (since 40/95 still have treatment ongoing) then the response rate could be calculated as 36%.  Or....you could just listen to Bentie and he says in the end...it is going to be a 30% response rate...just like all the other MDX-1106 studies have been showing.  (And, I have to say...this sounds good only because the next best thing offers a 10% response rate and the next - 5%!!)  Responses acquired appear to be durable. (Hopefully, even more durable than this report, as the trial is still in progress...and this is just the tally from the point at which they instituted the data lock.)  Interesting that all drug dosages gained a response, even the 0.1mg/kg which is one tenth of the dose I am on...and I am getting the lowest dose in my particular study.

For what it's worth....rock on good lab rats!!  - c