Most patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) colorectal cancer do not have recurrence after cessation of immunotherapy treatment, according to a study published in the December issue of Cancer Research Communications.
Kristen Simmons, M.D., from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and colleagues reviewed records from patients with advanced MSI-H colorectal cancer from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center who received immunotherapy between 2014 and 2022 and stopped after prolonged clinical benefit. Data were reviewed for 64 patients with MSI-H colorectal cancer without progression on immunotherapy: 48 and 16 received an anti-programmed death-ligand 1 antibody alone or in combination with an anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 antibody, respectively.
The median immunotherapy exposure was 17.6 months. The researchers found that 88 percent of the 64 patients remained without disease progression after a median follow-up of 22.6 months after stopping immunotherapy. There was an association observed between lung metastases with recurrence/progression (odds ratio, 6.1), but no associations were noted for coexisting mutation, primary tumor sidedness, and immunotherapy.
