Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy Promising in CRC, but Long-term Data Needed, Says Dr Kristen Ciombor

While not yet standard of care, neoadjuvant immunotherapy is showing positive responses in patients with colorectal cancer when using this type of experiemental approach, said Kirsten K. Ciombor, MD, MSCI, associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University, speaking at an Institute for Value-Based Medicine^® meeting.

Transcript

What long-term survival data are you waiting to see in the use of neoadjuvant immunotherapy in colorectal cancer?

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy, it's still an experimental approach; it's not yet standard of care. But we're starting to see some really incredible responses, both in rectal cancer and colon cancer. We need to make sure that these responses, these tumor shrinkage data are really reliable, that they are reproducible, that they are generalizable to patients across the spectrum, and then of course, that they're durable.

We are hopeful that these early responses will translate to increased rates of cure, but we need more follow up data to ensure that's true.