BACKGROUNDFirst-line chemotherapy for advanced esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma results in poor outcomes. The monoclonal antibody nivolumab has shown an overall survival benefit over chemotherapy in previously treated patients with advanced esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma. METHODSIn this open-label, phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned adults with previously untreated, unresectable advanced, recurrent, or metastatic esophageal squamouscell carcinoma in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive nivolumab plus chemotherapy, nivolumab plus the monoclonal antibody ipilimumab, or chemotherapy. The primary end points were overall survival and progression-free survival, as determined by blinded independent central review. Hierarchical testing was performed first in patients with tumor-cell programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression of 1% or greater and then in the overall population (all randomly assigned patients). RESULTSA total of 970 patients underwent randomization. At a 13-month minimum followup, overall survival was significantly longer with nivolumab plus chemotherapy than with chemotherapy alone, both among patients with tumor-cell PD-L1 expression of 1% or greater (median, 15.4 vs. 9.1 months; hazard ratio, 0.54; 99.5% confidence interval [CI], 0.37 to 0.80; P<0.001) and in the overall population (median, 13.2 vs. 10.7 months; hazard ratio, 0.74; 99.1% CI, 0.58 to 0.96; P = 0.002). Overall survival was also significantly longer with nivolumab plus ipilimumab than with chemotherapy among patients with tumor-cell PD-L1 expression of 1% or greater (median, 13.7 vs. 9.1 months; hazard ratio, 0.64; 98.6% CI, 0.46 to 0.90; P = 0.001) and in the overall population (median, 12.7 vs. 10.7 months; hazard ratio, 0.78; 98.2% CI, 0.62 to 0.98; P = 0.01). Among patients with tumor-cell PD-L1 expression of 1% or greater, a significant progression-free survival benefit was also seen with nivolumab plus chemotherapy over chemotherapy alone (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.65; 98.5% CI, 0.46 to 0.92; P = 0.002) but not with nivolumab plus ipilimumab as compared with chemotherapy. The incidence of treatment-related adverse events of grade 3 or 4 was 47% with nivolumab plus chemotherapy, 32% with nivolumab plus ipilimumab, and 36% with chemotherapy alone. CONCLUSIONSBoth first-line treatment with nivolumab plus chemotherapy and first-line treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab resulted in significantly longer overall survival than chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma, with no new safety signals identified. (Funded by Bristol Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical; CheckMate 648 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03143153.

238 Background: Neoadjuvant treatment is the standard care for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC). JCOG1109 (UMIN000009482) compared the doublet and triplet of chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment. Methods: Eligible patients (pts) with ESCC of clinical stage IB, II, III (excluding T4) (UICC 7th) from 44 institutions were randomized 1:1:1 to neoadjuvant CF (cisplatin 80 mg/m2 on day1 plus 5-FU 800 mg/m2 on days 1-5 Q3W/2course), DCF (docetaxel 70 mg/m2 on day 1, cisplatin 70 mg/m2 on day1, plus 5-FU 750 mg/m2 on days 1-5 Q3W/3 course), or CF-RT (cisplatin 75 mg/m2 on day 1 plus 5-FU 1000 mg/m2 on days 1-4 Q4W/2course, radiation 41.4 Gy/23 fr). Primary endpoint was overall survival (OS), and secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), %R0 resection, %objective response by neoadjuvant therapy, %pathological complete response (pCR) and safety. Differences in OS was assessed in the ITT using the stratified log-rank test. The data cutoff date for the analysis was July 20, 2021. Results: Of 601 pts 199 CF, 202 DCF, and 200 CF-RT were enrolled from December 5, 2012 to July 20, 2018, respectively. Among 601 pts, 88.2% were male, median (range) age was 65 (30-75), clinical stage III (nonT4) pts were 62.6%. Median follow-up time (range) was 4.2 years (y) (0-8.5). Median OS in CF, DCF, and CF-RT arm were 4.6 y, not reached (NR), and 6.0y, and 3-year OS was 62.6%, 72.1%, and 68.3%, respectively (stratified log-rank test: p = 0.006 for CF vs. DCF and p = 0.12 for CF vs. CF-RT). By stratified Cox regression analysis for OS, hazard ratios (HR) [95% CI] was 0.68 [0.50–0.92] for CF vs. DCF and 0.84 [0.63–1.12] for CF vs. CF-RT. Median PFS in CF, DCF, and CF-RT arm were 2.7 y, NR, and 5.3 y, and 3-year PFS was 47.7%, 61.8%, and 58.5%, respectively. R0 resection was achieved in 168 (84.4%), 173 (85.6%), and 175 (87.5%), and pCR was 4 (2.1%), 40 (19.8%), and 77 (38.5%), respectively. During neoadjuvant therapy, febrile neutropenia in CF, DCF, and CF-RT arm were 1.0%, 16.3% and 4.7%, and esophagitis (grade>3) were 1.0%, 1.0% and 8.9%, respectively. The treatment-related death was seen in 3 (1.5%), 4 (2.0%), and 2 (1.0%), in CF, DCF, and CF-RT arm, respectively. Conclusions: DCF significantly improved OS over CF as neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced ESCC, with a manageable toxicity profile. DCF represents a new standard neoadjuvant treatment for ESCC. Clinical trial information: UMIN000009482.

LBA4001 Background: NIVO demonstrated superior overall survival (OS) vs chemo in previously treated patients (pts) with ESCC (ATTRACTION-3). We report OS and progression-free survival (PFS) from CheckMate 648, the first global phase III study to evaluate both an immuno-oncology (I-O)/chemo combination and an I-O/I-O combination in advanced ESCC. Methods: Adults with previously untreated, unresectable advanced, recurrent or metastatic ESCC were enrolled regardless of tumor cell PD-L1 expression. Pts were randomized to NIVO (240 mg Q2W) + chemo (fluorouracil + cisplatin Q4W), NIVO (3 mg/kg Q2W) + IPI (1 mg/kg Q6W), or chemo alone. Primary endpoints for both comparisons were OS and PFS per blinded independent central review (BICR) in pts with tumor cell PD-L1 ≥ 1%. Hierarchically tested secondary endpoints included OS and PFS in all randomized pts. Results: 970 pts were randomized to NIVO + chemo, NIVO + IPI, and chemo arms (49% with tumor cell PD-L1 ≥ 1%). With 13 months (mo) minimum follow-up, NIVO + chemo and NIVO + IPI led to statistically significant improvement in OS vs chemo in pts with tumor cell PD-L1 ≥ 1% and all randomized pts (Table). Statistically significant PFS benefit was also observed for NIVO + chemo vs chemo (HR 0.65 [98.5% CI 0.46–0.92]; P = 0.0023) in pts with tumor cell PD-L1 ≥ 1%. PFS in NIVO + IPI vs chemo in pts with tumor cell PD-L1 ≥ 1% did not meet the prespecified boundary for significance. The objective response rate (per BICR) was 53% (NIVO + chemo), 35% (NIVO + IPI), and 20% (chemo) in pts with tumor cell PD-L1 ≥ 1% and in all randomized pts was 47%, 28%, and 27%, respectively; longer median (95% CI) duration of response was observed vs chemo for pts with tumor cell PD-L1 ≥ 1%: 8.4 (6.9–12.4), 11.8 (7.1–27.4), and 5.7 (4.4–8.7) mo and for all randomized pts: 8.2 (6.9–9.7), 11.1 (8.3–14.0), and 7.1 (5.7–8.2) mo, respectively. No new safety signals were identified (Table). Conclusions: NIVO plus chemo and NIVO plus IPI both demonstrated superior OS vs chemo, along with durable objective responses and acceptable safety, in pts with advanced ESCC, and each represents a potential new 1L treatment option. Clinical trial information: NCT03143153. [Table: see text]

Background Postoperative infectious complications increase disease recurrence in colorectal cancer patients. We herein investigated the impact of infectious complications on gastric cancer recurrence after curative surgery. Methods In total, 502 patients who underwent R0 resection for gastric cancer were reviewed. Patients were classified into those with infectious complications (IC group) and those without infectious complications (NO group). The risk factors for recurrence-free survival (RFS) were identified. Results Infectious complications, which occurred in 52 patients (10.4 %), included pneumonia, ileus with a systemic inflammatory reaction, anastomotic leakage, and intraperitoneal abscess. The overall 5-year RFS rate was 83 % in the NO group and 58 % in the IC group (p = 0.000). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that age, ASA score, stage, and infectious complications were significant predictors of RFS. Conclusions Infectious complications were a risk factor for gastric cancer recurrence. To avoid causing infectious complications, the surgical procedure, surgical strategy, and perioperative care should be carefully planned.

Amicus is superior to Spectra in avoiding apheresis-induced thrombocytopenia caused by platelets contaminating the collected samples. Therefore, the Amicus is useful for patients with thrombocytopenia or with a less-than-normal platelet count.