A new French study raises the possibility that immunotherapy can help some people with stomach cancer avoid surgery.
GERCOR NEONIPIGA was a phase 2 study with no comparator group and only 32 patients, but even so, after a 6-cycle course of nivolumab and ipilimumab, there was no sign of tumor in 17 of the 29 patients (59%) who had surgery specimens evaluable by pathology.
Indeed, two patients refused surgery after their preop endoscopic biopsies came back clear with no tumor cells. Surgery was called off in a third patient who developed metastases beforehand.
After a median of 12 months follow-up, there was no recurrence or progression in 30 patients (94%). The remaining two included the metastatic patient and one who died 3 days after surgery from cardiovascular complications.
If the findings pan out with additional research, the approach could be a boon for people who respond. "Avoiding surgery is a dream for these patients," said lead investigator Thierry Andre, MD, a medical oncology professor at Sorbonne University, Paris, when he presented the findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
The trial "raises the question whether surgery can be delayed or avoided in some patients with localized" disease.
