Download Transcript - Partners in Pancreatic Cancer

Philip A. Philip, MD, PhD, FRCP Professor of Oncology and Internal Medicine Dr. Kathryn Cramer Endowed Chair in Cancer Research Leader, GI & Neuroendocrine Multidisciplinary Team Vice President for Medical Affairs Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute Wayne State University School of Medicine Detroit, Michigan Do immune checkpoint inhibitors have any demonstrated efficacy in patients with pancreatic cancer? Welcome to Partners in Pancreatic Cancer, my name is Philip Philip, I am a professor in oncology. I specialize in the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies and I have a special interest in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. I am frequently asked if immune checkpoint inhibitors have any demonstrated efficacy in patients with pancreatic cancer. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have been shown to have activity in a number of cancers such as melanoma, and lung cancer; however, at this point in time, we do not have proof that these drugs work in pancreatic cancer in the same way they have been used in other cancers. In other words, do they have activity as single agents or when combined with chemotherapy? We do not really have evidence to support their use. Patients ask me about immune checkpoint inhibitors all the time, however. Having said that, there are clinical trials currently being conducted combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with certain agents which will enhance their activity. These agents are, by and large, drugs that work on the stroma, the microenvironment, and also try to change the immune profile of the tumor so that immune checkpoint inhibitors will have a greater efficacy. There is a very tiny group of patients, maybe 1%, who might have microsatellite instability, and those patients may respond to these agents; but again, this is only 1% of the patients that we see with metastatic disease. So, at this point in time, although immune checkpoint inhibitors are, exciting in other diseases, we really have no evidence supporting their activity in pancreatic cancer. If a patient has to be treated with these drugs, it has to be a part of a clinical trial. ©2016 MediCom Worldwide, Inc.