April 17–22, 2026 · San Diego · 2418 items
← MRD / ctDNA / DTP: from detection to treatment decisions
25 people · 25 posts · 1 abstract
Heat now 0·Peak in the comparable set 1 (Oct 22 07:00)·Change over 24h in the comparable set –·Participants now 1
Participants counted above, heat below. The trend compares only the participants observed in full throughout, so its set can be smaller than the heat figure itself. Move the pointer or click the chart for an hour's reading; the left and right arrow keys work too.
CheckMate 77T used this path: 75% clearance on nivolumab versus 46% on placebo.
| Drug / trial | Readout | Setting |
|---|---|---|
| CheckMate 77Tnivolumab#LIQUIDBIOPSY#NSCLC | ctDNA clearance 75% vs 46%; clearers ~70% pCR, non-clearers ~0% | Perioperative NSCLC · nivo |
Nivolumab, pembrolizumab and durvalumab sit in this direction not as new drugs, but because perioperative IO trials wrote ctDNA into the stratification.
Justine Panian, Lin Liu, Minya Pu, Emily Pittman, Samuel Pena, Archana Ajmera, Yu-Wei Chen, Christos Kyriakopoulos, Qian Qin, James Michael Randall, Tian Zhang, Joshua Michael Lang, Akash Patnaik, Rana R. McKay
Read the abstract →Long-term follow-up of NICHE-2 shows no recurrences among the 111 patients in the primary efficacy population with dMMR colon cancer after neoadjuvant nivolumab plus ipilimumab. The single-arm, multicenter phase 2 study gave patients two cycles over about 4 weeks before surgery; pathological response was 98% and pathological complete response 68%. With median postoperative follow-up of 58.7 months, 3-year disease-free survival and estimated 5-year overall survival were both 100%, and all patients were alive at latest follow-up.
Why it matters: Long-term NICHE-2 follow-up shows no recurrences among 111 patients, with 3-year DFS and estimated 5-year OS both 100%, supporting durability of short-course neoadjuvant immunotherapy.
The single-arm, multicentre, phase 2 NICHE-2 trial in the Netherlands showed that patients with locally advanced dMMR colon cancer who received ipilimumab and nivolumab before surgery had 3-year disease-free survival and 5-year overall survival of 100%. The authors consider that this neoadjuvant combination may become a standard treatment option for locally advanced dMMR colon cancer.
Why it matters: The single-arm, multicentre phase 2 study reports 3-year DFS and 5-year OS of 100%, providing long-term follow-up reference for efficacy without a concurrent control.
This review integrates the molecular mechanisms of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with phase III clinical evidence, systematically evaluating the therapeutic landscape of VEGF-TKIs, mTOR inhibitors, immune checkpoint inhibitors as monotherapies, and combination regimens including nivolumab plus ipilimumab, pembrolizumab plus axitinib, and lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab.
Perioperative immunotherapy in resectable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has reached a key phase III milestone: adjuvant nivolumab improved DFS in patients with pathologic high-risk resected disease, and perioperative pembrolizumab significantly prolonged EFS in locally advanced disease. Biological evidence supports integrating immunotherapy into perioperative strategies to improve long-term outcomes.
Perioperative immunotherapy for resectable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has reached a turning point, with two phase III trials reporting positive results: adjuvant nivolumab improved disease-free survival (DFS) in HNSCC with pathologic high-risk features after resection, and perioperative pembrolizumab significantly prolonged event-free survival (EFS) in resectable locally advanced HNSCC. These data are driving a shift from conventional adjuvant frameworks toward integrated perioperative immunotherapy strategies, with the potential to improve long-term patient outcomes.
Neoadjuvant nivolumab plus ipilimumab extended median survival to about 13.5 months versus roughly nine months with nivolumab alone in a phase 2 trial of 63 patients with recurrent glioblastoma. Five patients, about 15% of the combination group, became long-term survivors, with none on nivolumab alone. Tumor T-cell density independently predicted overall survival, and early pseudoprogression on MRI correlated with longer survival, pointing to biomarkers for patient selection.
Why it matters: Dual checkpoint blockade produced long-term survivors in recurrent glioblastoma, a cancer largely resistant to immunotherapy.
A study drawing on data from over 3 million people traces the ancestral history of the EGFR T790M germline mutation and its present contribution to lung cancer risk in people who never smoked. Rare germline variants of EGFR, especially T790M, have been implicated in familial lung cancer, but prior studies were small and lacked statistical power. As smoking-related lung cancer declines in many regions, lung cancer in never-smokers is drawing more attention.
A study using data from more than 3 million people reveals the ancestral history of the EGFR T790M germline mutation and its present contribution to lung cancer risk in never-smokers. Overcoming the limited statistical power of earlier small studies, it offers new insight into inherited susceptibility to lung cancer in people who never smoked.
Spatial proteomics of biopsies from the SWOG S1616 trial shows that melanoma patients responding to ipilimumab plus nivolumab after primary resistance to anti-PD-1 have activated CD8 T-cell networks near melanoma cells, while progressing biopsies show impaired T-cell infiltration adjacent to plasma cells. Responding baseline biopsies also showed complement expression in myeloid cells, interferon pathways in endothelial cells, and oxidative phosphorylation and lipid metabolism in melanoma cells. The work defines tumor microenvironment features that accompany reversal of anti-PD-1 resistance.
Why it matters: It explains, at single-cell spatial resolution, why some anti-PD-1-resistant melanomas respond to added anti-CTLA-4 and others do not.
Adjuvant nivolumab after upfront surgery did not improve disease-free survival in resected non-small cell lung cancer. Median disease-free survival was 71.3 months with nivolumab vs 68.8 months with observation (hazard ratio, 0.97; 1-sided P = .39), and the trial was stopped for futility. This contrasts with the established benefit of preoperative and perioperative nivolumab in this setting.
Why it matters: A negative phase 3 trial clarifies that adjuvant nivolumab adds no benefit after upfront surgery in resected NSCLC.
Pre-surgical ctDNA clearance identifies patients most likely to benefit from perioperative nivolumab in resectable NSCLC: 66% of nivolumab-treated patients with evaluable ctDNA cleared it before surgery, and half of those had pathologic complete response, versus 38% clearance and 12% pCR on placebo. Nivolumab also prolonged EFS in patients with alterations in KEAP1, STK11, CDKN2A and/or SMARCA4 (HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.28-0.83). A machine-learning model ranked ctDNA clearance among top predictors of longer EFS.
Why it matters: Defines ctDNA-based markers that predict benefit from perioperative nivolumab in resectable NSCLC.
Phase I trial led by Moran Amit (MD Anderson): direct nivolumab injection shrank treated lesions by about 60% on average in 25 of 29 patients, spared surgery, and kept 82.13% of lesions cancer-free at 12 months.
Based on the initial results from the CheckMate 77T trial,