• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Cancer

Immunotherapy drug used as 1st-line therapy for Merkel cell carcinoma improved survival

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
February 7, 2019
in Cancer
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: LSU Health New Orleans


New Orleans, LA – A multi-center phase II clinical trial investigating pembrolizumab as a first-line and programmed cell death-1 therapy in patients with advanced Merkel cell carcinoma reports lasting tumor control, generally manageable side effects and improved overall survival. The results are published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, available at http://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.18.01896.

LSU Health New Orleans’ Adam Riker, MD, FACS, Professor and Chief of Surgical Oncology, led the study at its School of Medicine and Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center.

“This study shows the amazing ability of our immune system to fight off and destroy an aggressive form of skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma,” says Dr. Riker. “The study drug, pembrolizumab, which is a new form of immunotherapy, blocks a specific receptor in our bodies, resulting in a super charging of our immune system to both recognize and destroy cancer cells. The overall impressive results show that this form of immunotherapy is quite effective, giving us an important treatment option for patients with Merkel Cell Carcinoma that has spread within the body.”

Fifty patients, aged 46 – 91 years, were enrolled in the open-label, nonrandomized study. Patients were given pembrolizumab intravenously every three weeks for up to two years. Fifty-six percent of participants responded to the drug – 24% had a complete response, and 32%, a partial response. The average length of progression-free survival was 26.8 months, with a 24-month rate of 48.3%. The overall survival rate at 24 months was 68.7%.

Nearly all of the participants (96%) experienced some type of treatment-related side effect, and seven patients discontinued the trial because of them. The authors note that one death occurred in a 73-year-old patient with widely metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma and pre-existing atrial fibrillation who withdrew from the trial and died 10 days after a single infusion of pembrolizumab.

According to the National Cancer Institute, Merkel cell carcinoma is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the skin. Sun exposure and a weak immune system can affect the risk of Merkel cell carcinoma. Though rare, the incidence of Merkel cell carcinoma increased by 95% between 2000 and 2013. The five-year overall survival rate ranges between 14 and 27% for advanced disease.

The first drug approved to treat metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma, avelumab, did not gain FDA approval until 2017. The authors add, in 2016, guidelines listed chemotherapy as the sole treatment option for advanced Merkel cell carcinoma. In 2017, pembrolizumab was recommended after chemotherapy; and in 2018, avelumab, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab were all recommended as preferred first-line therapies, ahead of chemotherapy.

The fact that the incidence is highest in people who are immunosuppressed provides some support for the idea that Merkel cell carcinoma is an immunogenic cancer, one that is related to immune function, and a good candidate for immunotherapy. The National Cancer Institute defines immunotherapy as “a type of therapy that uses substances to stimulate or suppress the immune system to help the body fight cancer, infection, and other diseases. Some types of immunotherapy only target certain cells of the immune system. Others affect the immune system in a general way. Types of immunotherapy include cytokines, vaccines, bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), and some monoclonal antibodies.” Pembrolizumab is a monoclonal antibody.

###

Other centers participating in the trial are University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Emory University, Moffitt Cancer Center, Mount Sinai Medical Center, University of California San Francisco, Yale University, Stanford University, University of Pittsburgh, Duke University Medical Center, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, City of Hope, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network, University of Washington, and Axio Research.

The research was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute, the Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) patient gift fund at University of Washington, the Kelsey Dickson MCC Challenge Grant from the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Al Copeland Foundation, and Merck, which provided pembrolizumab and partial funding for this study.

LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans educates Louisiana’s health care professionals. The state’s flagship health sciences university, LSU Health New Orleans includes a School of Medicine, the state’s only School of Dentistry, Louisiana’s only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSU Health New Orleans faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research in a number of areas in a worldwide arena, the LSU Health New Orleans research enterprise generates jobs and enormous economic impact. LSU Health New Orleans faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment, or cure disease. To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu, http://www.twitter.com/LSUHealthNO, or http://www.facebook.com/LSUHSC.

Media Contact
Leslie Capo
[email protected]
504-568-4806

Original Source

http://lsuh.sc/nr?a=487

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1200/JCO.18.01896

Tags: BiologycancerHealth CareHealth ProfessionalsImmunology/Allergies/AsthmaMedical EducationMedicine/HealthPharmaceutical ScienceSurgeryVirology
Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

blank

CAR T-Cell Therapy: Advances in Blood and Solid Cancers

August 6, 2025
Undetected Bowel Cancer Risk Found in Common Growths

Undetected Bowel Cancer Risk Found in Common Growths

August 6, 2025

Novel ROS-Based Anti-Cancer Therapy Targets Complex III

August 6, 2025

Innovative Carbon Material Enhances Proton Beam Focus, Promising Greater Precision in Cancer Therapy

August 6, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    74 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    61 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Predicting Colorectal Cancer Using Lifestyle Factors

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    47 shares
    Share 19 Tweet 12

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Msx2 Inhibits Osteoclast Fusion, Boosts Bone Growth

Three-Step Forensic Method Differentiates Human, Pig Nails

Human Leishmaniasis in Algeria: A Comprehensive Review

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.