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 7th to 9th 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.
More posts
Emerging therapies in solid tumors
Interleukin-8 (IL-8), also known as chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 8, is a pro-inflammatory chemokine that exerts direct pro-tumorigenic effects primarily by recruiting immunosuppressive cells into the tumor microenvironment such as neutrophils and myeloid-derived suppressor cells. IL-8 has also been shown to promote cancer progression and resistance to therapy, by inducing angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and cancer stem cell (CSC) self-renewal.
New strategies with PD-1/PD-L1 blockade in lung cancer
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for about 15 % of all diagnosed cases of lung cancer and is characterized by a high proliferative rate, an early development of widespread metastases and a poor prognosis. The five-year survival rate is less than 7 %. More than two-thirds of patients with this highly aggressive neuroendocrine tumor are diagnosed with advanced or extensive-stage disease (ES-SCLC).
Preface – ESMO IO 2022
The ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress took place in Geneva, Switzerland, and virtually from 7th to 9th 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.