Immune checkpoint inhibitor plus anti-HER2 therapy: a new standard for HER2-positive oesophagogastric cancer?
Mené sur 37 patients atteints d’un cancer œsogastrique HER2+ de stade métastatique (œsophage, estomac ou jonction œsogastrique), cet essai de phase II évalue l’efficacité, du point de vue de la survie sans progression à 6 mois, et la toxicité d’un traitement combinant pembrolizumab et trastuzumab en ajout à une chimiothérapie de première ligne
Oesophagogastric cancer (gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer) is the fifth most common cancer and the third most common cause of cancer death worldwide. Chemotherapy prolongs the survival of patients with metastatic oesophagogastric cancer; however, their prognosis remains poor. For patients with HER2-positive metastatic oesophagogastric cancer, the addition of trastuzumab in platinum plus fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy is recommended. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have caused a paradigm shift for the treatment of various advanced cancers. Compared with standard chemotherapy, a combination of pembrolizumab and chemotherapy did not lead to a survival improvement in patients with HER2-negative, PD-L1-positive metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal cancer as the first-line treatment. Preclinical and clinical studies have reported a synergistic effect of combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with anti-HER2 therapy to treat HER2-positive cancers.
The Lancet Oncology 2020