Nivolumab plus chemotherapy or ipilimumab versus chemotherapy as first-line treatment for advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: 5-year follow-up results from CheckMate 648.
Five-year data confirms that adding immune-boosting drugs to chemotherapy durably extends survival in advanced esophageal cancer.
The 5-year update of the phase III CheckMate 648 trial confirms durable OS improvement with both nivolumab-based regimens over chemotherapy alone in first-line advanced ESCC, with hazard ratios of 0.62 in PD-L1-positive patients and comparable benefit across all-randomized patients. PFS benefit was maintained with nivolumab+chemotherapy but not nivolumab+ipilimumab, and long-term safety remained stable, solidifying these regimens as standard-of-care for this disease.
What the study was
- Study design
- Phase III Randomized Controlled Trial – 5-Year Follow-Up
- Population
- 970 patients with previously untreated unresectable advanced/recurrent/metastatic ESCC
- Sample size
- 970
- Category
- Treatment Innovation
- Maturity
- Potentially Practice-Changing
- Journal
- Annals of Oncology
Why it surfaced
5-year Phase III OS data confirming durable nivolumab benefit in ESCC; provides the most mature survival evidence for this SOC immunotherapy indication.
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