Dr. Park on the Role of Cemiplimab in Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma

Soo Park, MD, medical oncologist, assistant professor of Medicine, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Health, discusses the role of cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) in advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC).

In February 2021, the FDA approved cemiplimab as the first immunotherapy for use in patients with advanced BCC that has previously been treated with a hedgehog pathway inhibitor (HHI) or for whom a HHI is not appropriate.

Cemiplimab has been studied in the locally advanced, unresectable, and metastatic setting of BCC, Park says. Partial responses have been observed for extended periods of time with the agent, and cemiplimab has shown to be better tolerated vs HHIs, Park explains. Since patients tend to go off HHIs after several months due to toxicity, cemiplimab has a role in the next line of therapy, Park adds.

Cemiplimab is also being evaluated in the up-front setting, and it will be interesting to see if the agent find a spot higher in the treatment paradigm, Park concludes.