Real-world effectiveness and safety of camrelizumab-based neoadjuvant therapy in resectable esophageal cancer: Initial results of a prospective multicenter observational study.

Abstract

250 Background: Camrelizumab, a fully humanized monoclonal anti-PD-1 antibody, has shown promising efficacy with good tolerance in neoadjuvant therapy of resectable locally advanced esophageal cancer (EC). The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of camrelizumab-based neoadjuvant therapy in a comparatively larger number of resectable EC patients in a real-world setting and initial results were reported here. Methods: In this prospective multicenter observational study (ChiCTR2000039170), patients with histologically confirmed resectable EC who were scheduled for camrelizumab-based neoadjuvant therapy at the discretion of treating physicians/ oncologists were included. Eligible patients were aged ≥ 18 years, had ECOG PS of 0-1, measurable disease per RECIST v1.1, adequate organ function, and expected survival time of ≥ 3 months, as well as provided written informed consent. The primary endpoint was safety. The secondary endpoints were major pathologic response (MPR), pathologic complete response (pCR), R0 resection rate, overall response rate (ORR), one-year overall survival (OS) rate, and disease-free survival (DFS). Results: At total of 166 patients (62.9 ± 9.2 years, and 84.2% male) were enrolled between October 20 2020 and August 26 2021. All patients received neoadjuvant camrelizumab plus chemotherapies (primarily nab-paclitaxel and nedaplatin) except one receiving camrelizumab alone. Overall, 109 patients (65.7%) experienced treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs), most commonly reactive cutaneous capillary endothelial proliferation (RCCEP, 45.3%), cough (10.4%), and pneumonia (8.5%). Thirteen (7.8%) patients experienced grade 3-4 TRAEs. There was no grade 5 toxicity. At the data cutoff, 141 (84.9%) patients were evaluable for radiological response, 82 (69.5%) patients underwent surgical resection. The ORR was 70.9% (100/141) and the R0 resection rate was 97.5% (79/82). Among the 81 patients available for pathologic assessment, 51 (63.0%) patients achieved MPR and of which, 15 (18.5%) had pCR. The median survival times have not been reached at the time of data analysis. Conclusions: The real-world data of our resectable EC patients showed effectiveness and safety profiles of camrelizumab-based neoadjuvant therapy consistent with those observed in previous trials.

Immunotherapy for esophageal cancer: Where are we now and where can we go

“…Although the number of participating patients is limited, preoperative combination therapies have shown ideal pathological complete response (PCR) rate, ranging 21.2%-40.0%, with an acceptable safety profile. Effect of neoadjuvant camrelizumab-containing regimens have also been studied in a multicenter observational study[ 21 ], which showed a complete resection and PCR rate of 86.4% and 21.3%, respectively, among 255 patients with ESCC. Although the survival benefit for patients after neoadjuvant combination ICI + chemotherapy remain unknown, follow-up data was reported in several trials.…”