Dr. Gettinger on PD-1 Inhibitor BMS-936558 in NSCLC

Scott Gettinger, MD, associate professor of medicine (medical oncology), Yale School of Medicine, discusses updated results from a phase I trial that examined the novel immunotherapy BMS-936558 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and other solid tumors.

The study analyzed the programmed death-1 (PD-1) pathway as a target in several different cancers. Heavily pretreated patients received BMS-936558 intravenously at doses of 0.1 to 10.0 mg/kg during dose-escalation and/or cohort expansion. Gettinger was surprised that response rates were so high, considering the patients were heavily pretreated. The updated results showed an initial response of 18% in non-small cell lung cancer.

With 122 patients available to assess, the response by RECIST criteria was 16% for patients with NSCLC. Gettinger adds that patients who did respond saw long lasting responses, including some patients beyond one year.

When using immunotherapies, Gettinger says, there is sometimes a delay in when a regression can be seen on a radiograph, which may have impacted the overall results.