Dr. van den Bent on Temozolomide and Depatux-M in Glioblastoma

Martin J. van den Bent, MD, professor, Neuro-Oncology, Erasmus MC-Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center, the Netherlands, discusses the combination of temozolomide (Temodal) and depatuxizumab mafodotin (depatux-m) in the treatment of patients with glioblastoma.

Findings from the INTELLANCE 2 trial presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that the combination of depatux-m and temozolomide resulted in a median 1-year overall survival rate of 40%, compared with 28% in the control arm. This was a randomized phase II trial that tested the antibody-drug conjugate depatux-m alone, depatux-m with temozolomide, and a control arm of either temozolomide or lomustine (Gleostine) alone.

van den Bent says that there a number of questions that have been raised as a result of INTELLANCE 2. The intriguing finding, he says, is the survival benefit with the combination of depatux-m and temozolomide, as this result was seen regardless of the O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase status of the tumor.

An ongoing trial in newly-diagnosed patients with glioblastoma is evaluating the addition of depatux-m to temozolomide and radiation therapy. van den Bent says that this study will show the real power of depatux-m in this tumor type.