Preface – ESMO IO 2022

Matteo Simonelli, MD, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy & Oncology Department, IRCCS ­Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan, Italy

Dear Colleagues,

The ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress took place in Geneva, Switzerland, and virtually from 7^th to 9^th December 2022. In total, more than 2,000 participants from more than 100 countries attended one of the 31 sessions featuring over 249 presented abstracts, 6 late breaking abstracts, 6 proffered paper, 14 mini orals and 229 posters. The 80 presenters provided a comprehensive overview of the fast-developing field of cancer immunotherapy, particularly concerning innovative therapeutic combinations with other anticancer strategies, such as chemotherapy and targeted therapies or recent developments on immune modulation.

This issue of memo inOncology presents findings of this year’s ESMO IO in the areas of clinical research, ­immunological mechanisms, and new therapeutic agents. The AdvanTIG-105 trial outcomes showed encouraging antitumor activity with ­chemotherapy plus anti-TIGIT plus ­anti-PD-1 blockade as first-line treatment in thera­peutically challenging ­ES-SCLC. Moreover, optimal treatment after failure of immunotherapy is still under investigation. Here, long-term follow-up results of the phase I trial demonstrated the promising activity of an anti-PVRIG ­antibody plus PD-1-targeted therapy. Additionally, neoadjuvant administration of a novel bifunctional fusion protein, targeting both PD-L1 and TGF-ß, rendered a quarter of unresectable stage III NSCLC patients eligible for ­surgery and resulted in a favorable ­efficacy in resected patients. Innovations with a histone deacetylase in­hibitor in combination with an anti-PD-1 inhibitor plus chemotherapy in the 1L setting of advanced NSCLC, updated results on the combination of a covalent KRASG12C inhibitor and anti-PD-1 therapy as well as conventional chemotherapy combined with PD-(L)1 inhibitors are also discussed.

Last but not least, this issue looks at emerging therapies in various metastatic solid tumor entities, like the interplay between interleukin-8 signaling pathway, anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA4-blockade or anti-PD-1 and a multi­kinase inhibitor.

Once again, the ESMO IO congress offered an outstanding platform of ­exchange for international experts to transfer the latest findings from ­immuno-oncology research into ­practice-orientated therapeutic approaches combating cancer on multiple fronts, with the goal of remission and elimination.

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