mRNA Vaccine + Checkpoint Inhibitor Combo Had Low Toxicity With Evidence of Efficacy in Advanced NSCLC

A combination of a new mRNA vaccine used together with a programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint inhibitor to treat patients with lung cancer was markedly less toxic than a combination of the same vaccine with chemotherapy. However, it was apparently just effective. This is according to findings from a study reported to the 2024 AACR Annual Meeting.  The randomized study, led by the researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center, looked at a combination of the mRNA-based active cancer vaccine BI1361849 combined with the anti-PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab with or without the anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) checkpoint inhibitor tremelimumab immunotherapy.  After announcing the findings at the AACR, presenting author Dung-Tsa Chen, PhD, Senior Member in the Department of Biostatistics & Informatics, Special Clinical Trial Design, and Data Analysis at the Moffitt Cancer Center, called in to discuss the new data with OncTimesTalk correspondent Peter Goodwin.