TY  - JOUR
A1  - Glutsch, Valerie
A1  - Kneitz, Hermann
A1  - Gesierich, Anja
A1  - Goebeler, Matthias
A1  - Haferkamp, Sebastian
A1  - Becker, Jürgen C.
A1  - Ugurel, Selma
A1  - Schilling, Bastian
T1  - Activity of ipilimumab plus nivolumab in avelumab-refractory Merkel cell carcinoma
T2  - Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy
N2  - Background
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive neuroendocrine cutaneous malignancy with poor prognosis. In Europe, approved systemic therapies are limited to the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab. For avelumab-refractory patients, efficient and safe treatment options are lacking.
Methods
At three different sites in Germany, clinical and molecular data of patients with metastatic MCC being refractory to the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab and who were later on treated with combined IPI/NIVO were retrospectively collected and evaluated.
Results
Five patients treated at three different academic sites in Germany were enrolled. Three out of five patients investigated for this report responded to combined IPI/NIVO according to RECIST 1.1. Combined immunotherapy was well tolerated without any grade II or III immune-related adverse events. Two out of three responders to IPI/NIVO received platinum-based chemotherapy in between avelumab and combined immunotherapy.
Conclusion
In this small retrospective study, we observed a high response rate and durable responses to subsequent combined immunotherapy with IPI/NIVO in avelumab-refractory metastatic MCC patients. In conclusion, our data suggest a promising activity of second- or third-line PD-1- plus CTLA-4-blockade in patients with anti-PD-L1-refractory MCC.
KW  - ipilimumab
KW  - Merkel cell carcinoma
KW  - resistance
KW  - avelumab
KW  - nivolumab
Y1  - 2021
UR  - https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/26563
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265635
SN  - 14320851
VL  - 70
IS  - 7
ER  -