Dr. Corcoran on Promising Combination Strategies With Immunotherapy in mCRC

Ryan B. Corcoran, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, and associate professor, Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses promising combination strategies with immunotherapy in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

The bispecific antibodies, as a class, are promising, says Corcoran. Early studies have shown signals of activity with these agents, especially when they are given in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor. However, the toxicity profiles of some of these drugs have resulted in limited utility, he adds. As such, researchers are investigating how to modify these agents. Specifically, research is being focused on examining which antigens these agents are directed against and how to create elements that will allow for some degree of tumor-specific activation.

Through such efforts, the field is learning that response to therapy is not always contingent on the tumor cell, but the tumor microenvironment, says Corcoran, and more specifically, immunosuppressive cell populations. These populations are often recruited into the tumor by cytokines or chemokines produced by the tumor, concludes Corcoran.