Dr. Zheng, and colleagues investigated the treatment of pancreatic cancer with combinations combining of cyclophosphamide, urelumab, nivolumab and/or a vaccine. Preclinical evidence and early clinical data from one trial* by the investigators indicated that adding urelumab to the other therapies could be synergistic.
Ten patients without previous treatment were enrolled. Patients received one dose of each therapy, followed by resection two weeks later. Following surgery, patients were treated with additional immunotherapy cycles in addition to standard-of-care chemotherapy. No patients had to delay surgery due to toxicities, and three patients exhibited moderate pathologic responses at the time of surgery, which was not anticipated. Nine of the ten patients remain disease-free at a median follow-up of one year. No notable safety signals were seen, with the most common toxicity being nausea.
