Adjuvant Nivolumab in Resected Esophageal or Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer
In CheckMate 577 RCT (n=794), disease-free survival was significantly longer among those who received nivolumab adjuvant therapy than among those who received placebo (22.4 vs. 11.0 months, HR 0.69; 96.4% CI, 0.56 to 0.86; P<0.001).
Source:
New England Journal of Medicine
SPS commentary:
According to an editorial, CheckMate 577 is a practice-changing trial in the treatment of oesophageal cancer, and although overall survival data are not mature, the doubling of median disease-free survival will almost certainly translate into an overall survival benefit. It suggests that the trial shows the first true advance in the adjuvant therapy of oesophageal cancer in recent years and will become a new standard of care. It notes however, that despite the improvement observed, most patients will not gain benefit from adjuvant therapy with nivolumab, and more contemporary biomarkers, including the presence of persistent circulating tumour DNA after surgery, should be explored to better define high-risk populations and potentially monitor patients receiving adjuvant therapy.