2015 Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Young Investigator Award Funded by Kidney Cancer Association

Matthew Campbell, MD Chief Fellow, Hematology/Oncology Fellowship, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center New agents called immune check point inhibitors have been FDA approved in the treatment of metastatic melanoma and metastatic squamous cell lung cancer. These agents have shown exciting activity in bladder, kidney, and a variety of other cancers in early clinical studies and are being explored in larger studies. The first of these agents, ipilimumab, is an antibody that binds to CTLA-4, a molecule that is increased by T cells responding to a stimulus, to help shut off the immune response. When the anti-body binds to CTLA-4, the immune system is able to stay activated and recognize a cancer cell as foreign targeting it for destruction. A similar agent to ipilimumab is tremelimumab. Agents targeting CTLA-4 have produced a response in 10-15% of patients treated with the majority of these patients having a very long-lasting response. Our group has identified that patients with bladder and prostate cancer treated with ipilimumab have increased numbers of T cells expressing high levels of the inducible costimulator (ICOS). In a retrospective analysis, patients with metastatic melanoma with a sustained high level of ICOS expressing T cells were found to have superior survival. Cryosurgery is a minimally invasive procedure that places a metal probe in a tumor allowing the delivery of liquid nitrogen freezing t...
Source: Kidney Cancer Association - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news