Dr. Overman on Remaining Questions With Immunotherapy in CRC

Michael J. Overman, MD, associate professor, Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the remaining questions with immunotherapy in colorectal cancer (CRC).

The updated findings from the CheckMate-142 study continue to support the use of nivolumab (Opdivo) alone or in combination with ipilimumab (Yervoy) for previously treated patients with DNA mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR)/microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) metastatic CRC. However, there is still a large proportion of patients with CRC who do not respond to immunotherapy.

Overman says that investigators are aiming to answer the question of how to do better in this group, and how to apply it to the majority of patients with CRC. There is ongoing work to identify how to move forward with immunotherapy in patients with CRC, Overman says, but there is still a lot that needs to be done. Combinations could be an avenue, but there needs to be more data to make a definitive statement.