Dr. Kelly on the Rationale for the CheckMate-577 Trial in Esophageal/GEJ Cancer

Ronan J. Kelly, MD, MBA, chief of oncology for the 10 Baylor Scott & White Health’s North Texas Cancer Centers and director of oncology on the campus of Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center at Baylor University Medical Center, discusses the rationale to conduct the phase 3 CheckMate-577 study in esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer.

Interim results of the trial, which were presented during the 2020 ESMO Virtual Congress, showed that nivolumab (Opdivo), given as adjuvant therapy for patients with resected disease, reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 31% versus placebo.

According to Kelly, there is no established adjuvant therapy option for patients who received chemoradiation but did not achieve a pathologic complete response.

Moreover, there has been some debate as to whether patients in this space should receive additional chemotherapy, says Kelly. However, as patients are typically frail following major surgeries such as esophagectomy, adjuvant chemotherapy may not be beneficial.

Nivolumab is known to be an effective and well-tolerated agent for patients with esophageal/GEJ cancer in the metastatic setting, Kelly explains.

As such, the CheckMate-577 trial is evaluating the tolerability and efficacy of 1 year of adjuvant nivolumab in this patient population, concludes Kelly.