The results of a small trial suggest another cancer treatment success for immunotherapy. Trial doctors treated mesothelioma patients with a cancer vaccine called galinpepimut-S (GPS). Most patients also received a checkpoint inhibitor drug (immunotherapy). Study patients lived longer and enjoyed nearly three months with no growth in their cancer.
Cancer Vaccine Helped Patients With Tough Mesothelioma Cases
For this trial, doctors researched a new treatment for pleural mesothelioma patients whose tumors grew after standard chemotherapy. Because patients had already received therapy, the trial treatment was a second-line therapy.
Many past attempts at second-line therapy have failed to improve mesothelioma survival. This fact may explain why there are currently no approved second-line therapies for mesothelioma. Unfortunately, this leaves patients with few options if standard treatments don’t work. But this study of a cancer vaccine and checkpoint inhibitor combination may change that.
Patients who received GPS and the checkpoint inhibitor Opdivo® (nivolumab) lived about 11 months. This is about 35% longer than the survival reported for other second-line therapies. Study patients also lived about three months without seeing tumor growth. This may mean they experienced a better quality of life during that time period.
What Does This Mean for Mesothelioma Patients?
Though these results are encouraging, they are also preliminary. Only eight patients so far have tried this treatment through the study. The organizers expect it to run through July 2023, and final results are unlikely to come out before that date.
If the completed study shows GPS and Opdivo safely improve survival, the combo will still require additional testing. It may be years before we know the fate of this treatment. In the meantime, these results can provide some helpful insights.
First, researchers are building on the recent success of Opdivo and Yervoy. Combining one or both with other treatments may prove beneficial. Second, there are many potential ways to combine immunotherapies. So there are just as many potential new treatments that may serve as tomorrow’s good news.
