In recent years, we have witnessed immunotherapy-based agents transform how we manage patient’s malignant melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, genitourinary cancers, head and neck cancers and Hodgkin’s lymphoma to list a few. Unfortunately, the progress of immunotherapy-based agents in GI cancers has been slow, although in 2017 we have seen approval of (I) Nivolumab/Pembrolizumab for patients with metastatic CRC with high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) or DNA mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR), (II) Pembrolizumab for patients with advanced gastric and GE junction tumors, who have failed at least two lines of chemotherapy and express PD-L1 protein, (III) Nivolumab for the treatment of patients with HCC following prior sorafenib, regardless of PD-L1 status.
Disclosure:
The series “Evolving Role of Immune-oncology Therapeutics in GI Malignancies” was commissioned by the editorial office, Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology without any sponsorship or funding. Devalingam Mahalingam served as the unpaid Guest Editor for the series.
