Cemiplimab in locally advanced basal cell carcinoma after hedgehog inhibitor therapy
In patients whose locally advanced basal cell carcinoma had progressed on or could not tolerate a hedgehog inhibitor, cemiplimab shrank tumours in about three in ten, giving a second-line option where none existed.
Overview
Phase 2 study of 84 patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma after progression on or intolerance of hedgehog pathway inhibitors treated with cemiplimab.
Objective response was 31 percent (6 percent complete), with an estimated 85 percent of responses lasting at least a year and toxicity typical of PD-1 blockade; the metastatic cohort responded in about a fifth.
- Objective response 31 percent; complete response 6 percent.
- Estimated duration of response of at least 12 months in 85 percent of responders.
Cemiplimab is approved for advanced basal cell carcinoma after hedgehog inhibitor therapy, adding immunotherapy to the pathway for this common but rarely advanced skin cancer.
- Single-arm; responses can take many months to become apparent.