# CheckMate 8HW: nivolumab plus ipilimumab versus nivolumab alone in MSI-high metastatic colorectal cancer

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-checkmate-8hw-lancet-2025/  
OnCo record `paper-checkmate-8hw-lancet-2025` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Dual immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab delayed progression more than nivolumab alone across all lines of treatment in microsatellite-unstable colorectal cancer, with about seven in ten patients progression-free at three years.

## Summary

Phase 3 trial of 707 patients with microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair-deficient metastatic colorectal cancer randomised to nivolumab plus ipilimumab, nivolumab alone or chemotherapy; this report compares the two immunotherapy arms across all lines.

Progression-free survival favoured the combination (hazard ratio 0.62; three-year rate about 68 versus 51 percent) with a higher response rate (71 versus 58 percent); grade 3 to 4 treatment-related adverse events were 22 versus 14 percent.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Journal: The Lancet
- Year: 2025
- DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)02848-4
- Authors: André T, Elez E, Lenz HJ, et al.
- Findings: Progression-free survival hazard ratio 0.62 for the combination vs nivolumab alone.; Objective response 71 percent vs 58 percent.
- What it means: Nivolumab-ipilimumab is a first-line standard for microsatellite-unstable metastatic colorectal cancer alongside pembrolizumab, with the trade-off of more immune toxicity for deeper and more durable control.
- Caveats: Overall survival data immature at this report.; The earlier comparison with chemotherapy was first line only.

## Sources

- Lancet 2025: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)02848-4
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39874977/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Mismatch-repair deficient (MSI-high) colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/msi-high-colorectal/)
- drugs: [Ipilimumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/ipilimumab/), [Nivolumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/nivolumab/)
- trials: [CheckMate 8HW](https://onco.cc/trials/checkmate-8hw/)
- journals: [The Lancet](https://onco.cc/journals/lancet/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/paper-checkmate-8hw-lancet-2025.json