Sunday, October 1, 2017

Radiation and immunotherapy...not just safe together...but better!!! (AGAIN!!!)


I keep saying it!!!  Here's a link to lots of data (and my rants)!!!!

radiation and immunotherapy

Now this:

Concurrent radiotherapy for patients with metastatic melanoma and receiving anti-programmed-death 1 therapy: a safe and effective combination.  Aboudaram, Modesto, Chaltiel, et al.  Melanoma Res. 2017 Aug 28.

A combination of immune-checkpoint inhibitors and radiation therapy (RT) represents a promising therapeutic strategy in part mediated by the abscopal effect, but clinical experience related to this combination remains scarce. Clinical data and patterns of treatment were retrospectively collected from all consecutive patients with metastatic melanoma and receiving programmed-death 1 (PD-1) immune-checkpoint inhibitors. Survival data, best overall response, and acute and delayed toxicities were compared between patients receiving concurrent RT (IR) or no irradiation (NIR). Fifty-nine patients received anti-PD-1 immunotherapy [pembrolizumab (n=28) or nivolumab (n=31)] between August 2014 and December 2015 at our institution. Among these, 29% (n=17) received palliative RT for a total of 21 sites, with a mean dose of 30 Gy delivered in 10 fractions. Acute and late toxicity profiles were similar in the two groups. After a 10-month median follow-up, the objective response rate (complete or partial response) was significantly higher in the IR group versus the NIR group (64.7 vs. 33.3%) and one complete responder after RT was compatible with an abscopal effect. The 6-month disease-free survival and overall survival rates for the NIR group versus the IR group were 49.7 versus 64.7% and 58.8 versus 76.4%, respectively. We report here that the combination of RT and anti-PD-1 immunotherapy is well tolerated and leads to a significant higher tumor response rate within and outside the irradiated field, which is emphasized by the first reported case of an abscopal effect in solid tumors.
Now....we already know that anti-PD-1 gains better responses with fewer side effects both in the brain and body than ipi.  But there is even this...in regard to ipi combined with radiation:


Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Ipilimumab Versus Stereotactic Radiosurgery Alone in Melanoma Brain Metastases. Nruyen, Castreljon, Vaidis, Johnson.  Cureus. 2017 Jul 25.  
Benefits of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) have been well established in melanoma brain metastases (MBM). Immunotherapy agents such as ipilimumab (ipi) have recently demonstrated clinical efficacy in advanced disease as well. The theoretical synergistic effects of combining these therapies in MBM have not been explored in detail, however, we conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis of studies that compared combined SRS and ipi versus SRS alone in MBM. Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE) and Central databases were used for our literature search, which was conducted by three reviewers. We included studies that examined SRS and ipilimumab compared to SRS alone in MBM. Pertinent results were tabulated in a standardized spreadsheet. Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) Risk of Bias Assessment and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) method for rating evidence quality were used for qualitative analysis. Review Manager was used for statistical analysis. We identified four cohort studies that compared SRS plus ipi versus SRS alone in MBM. As per the GRADE criteria, we found low-quality evidence for survival benefits associated with combined treatment. Meta-analysis confirmed a significant benefit in survival for SRS and ipilimumab. There were no significant differences between comparison groups for local control, distant brain control, radiation necrosis, or intracranial bleeding. We conclude that low-quality evidence exists for superior overall survival in MBM treated with SRS and ipilimumab compared to SRS without ipilimumab. There is also no increased risk of radiation necrosis and/or intracranial bleeding with combining radiation and immunotherapy in this setting.
If your doc tells you that he can't administer immunotherapy WITH radiation...that some delay is needed between the two...or some other tommy rot  ~  Print and read aloud to him or her...this...or any of the other MANY research articles noted in the link above!!!

Whew!!!  Someday I'm gonna get to quit yell'n!!!  - c

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for reading and digesting these studies. It’s very helpful to see your take on them.

    ReplyDelete