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VIDEO: BTK inhibitors, vaccines top contenders for combination immune strategies in lymphoma
Joshua Brody, MD, director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, highlights research movement into combining immune strategies to further improve patient care.
In the final segment of a multi-part video interview, Brody covers positive results seen using anti-PD-1 antibodies in conjunction with targeted therapies — specifically Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors — and the potential impact of their seemingly “synergistic” relationship.
However, he underscores there remains the conundrum of converting patients who are not responsive to anti-PD-1 antibodies to responders, noting this requires a “kick start” to the immune system.
Brody cites compelling early data on remissions in advanced-stage disease with an “in situ” vaccine approach and describes the process of teaching immune cells in the body vs. in the lab.
“If these are able to cure lymphoma, we would be delighted,” he says. “If they are able to push off a patient’s need for chemotherapy, radiation therapy or other standard therapies, that would still be pretty gratifying.”