ipilimumab
Regulatory sources consulted
Approved indications
- Unresectable or metastatic melanoma in adults and patients aged 12 years or older, as monotherapy or with nivolumab; and adjuvant treatment of resected adult cutaneous melanoma with regional lymph-node involvement greater than 1 mm.
- In combination with nivolumab: first-line treatment of intermediate- or poor-risk advanced renal cell carcinoma in adults; confirmed unresectable or metastatic MSI-H/dMMR colorectal cancer from age 12 years; unresectable or metastatic adult hepatocellular carcinoma, first-line or after sorafenib; and unresectable adult malignant pleural mesothelioma.
- In combination with nivolumab, adult metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer with PD-L1 ≥1% and no EGFR/ALK aberrations; or, with 2 cycles of platinum-doublet chemotherapy, metastatic or recurrent disease without EGFR/ALK aberrations. Also adult advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma with PD-L1 ≥1%.
Clinical warnings
- Major warning · It can cause severe or fatal immune-mediated reactions in any organ, including after discontinuation: colitis, hepatitis, pneumonitis, nephritis, endocrinopathies, severe dermatologic reactions including SJS/TEN/DRESS, neurologic toxicity, myocarditis, and ocular toxicity. Assess liver enzymes, creatinine, ACTH, and thyroid function at baseline and before each dose. — DailyMed, YERVOY set_id 2265ef30-253e-11df-8a39-0800200c9a66
- Major warning · Interrupt or slow the infusion for a mild or moderate reaction and discontinue for a severe or life-threatening reaction. — DailyMed, YERVOY set_id 2265ef30-253e-11df-8a39-0800200c9a66
- Major warning · Serious and fatal complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation can occur before or after ipilimumab. — DailyMed, YERVOY set_id 2265ef30-253e-11df-8a39-0800200c9a66
Adverse events
Common (≥1%)
fatigue · diarrhea · pruritus · rash · nausea · headache
Rare but serious
immune-mediated colitis or gastrointestinal perforation · immune-mediated hepatitis · immune-mediated pneumonitis · immune-mediated myocarditis · fatal allogeneic transplant complication
Pregnancy and lactation
It can cause fetal harm. Verify pregnancy before treatment and use effective contraception during treatment and for 3 months after the last dose. Do not breastfeed during treatment or for 3 months afterward.
Recent literature (PubMed)
In phase 1-2 trials in patients with resectable, macroscopic stage III melanoma, neoadjuvant immunotherapy was more efficacious than adjuvant immunotherapy. In this phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned patients with resectable, macroscopic stage III melanoma to two cycles of neoadjuvant ipilimumab plus nivolumab followed by surgery or surgery followed by 12 cycles of adjuvant nivolumab. Only patients in the neoadjuvant group with a partial response or nonresponse received adjuvant treatment. The primary end point was event-free survival. A total of 423 patients underwent randomization. At a median follow-up of 9.9 months, the estimated 12-month event-free survival was 83.7% (99.9% confidence interval [CI], 73.8 to 94.8) in the neoadjuvant group and 57.2% (99.9% CI, 45.1 to 72.7) in the adjuvant group. The difference in restricted mean survival time was 8.00 months (99.9% CI, 4.94 to 11.05; P<0.001; hazard ratio for progression, recurrence, or death, 0.32; 99.9% CI, 0.15 to 0.66). In the neoadjuvant group, 59.0% of patients had a major pathological response, 8.0% had a partial response, 26.4% had a nonresponse (>50% residual viable tumor), and 2.4% had progression; in 4.2%, surgery had not yet been performed or was omitted. The estimated 12-month recurrence-free survival was 95.1% in patients in the neoadjuvant group who had a major pathological response, 76.1% among those with a partial response, and 57.0% among those with a nonresponse. Adverse events of grade 3 or higher that were related to systemic treatment occurred in 29.7% of patients in the neoadjuvant group and in 14.7% in the adjuvant group. Among patients with resectable, macroscopic stage III melanoma, neoadjuvant ipilimumab plus nivolumab followed by surgery and response-driven adjuvant therapy resulted in longer event-free survival than surgery followed by adjuvant nivolumab. (Funded by Bristol Myers Squibb and others; NADINA ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04949113.).
Previous results from this trial showed longer overall survival after treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab or with nivolumab monotherapy than with ipilimumab monotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma. Given that patients with advanced melanoma are living longer than 7.5 years, longer-term data were needed to address new clinically relevant questions. We randomly assigned patients with previously untreated advanced melanoma, in a 1:1:1 ratio, to one of the following regimens: nivolumab (1 mg per kilogram of body weight) plus ipilimumab (3 mg per kilogram) every 3 weeks for four doses, followed by nivolumab (3 mg per kilogram) every 2 weeks; nivolumab (3 mg per kilogram) every 2 weeks plus placebo; or ipilimumab (3 mg per kilogram) every 3 weeks for four doses plus placebo. Treatment was continued until the occurrence of disease progression, unacceptable toxic effects, or withdrawal of consent. Randomization was stratified according to BRAF mutation status, metastasis stage, and programmed death ligand 1 expression. Here, we report the final, 10-year results of this trial, including results for overall survival and melanoma-specific survival, as well as durability of response. With a minimum follow-up of 10 years, median overall survival was 71.9 months with nivolumab plus ipilimumab, 36.9 months with nivolumab, and 19.9 months with ipilimumab. The hazard ratio for death was 0.53 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.44 to 0.65) for nivolumab plus ipilimumab as compared with ipilimumab and was 0.63 (95% CI, 0.52 to 0.76) for nivolumab as compared with ipilimumab. Median melanoma-specific survival was more than 120 months with nivolumab plus ipilimumab (not reached, with 37% of the patients alive at the end of the trial), 49.4 months with nivolumab, and 21.9 months with ipilimumab. Among patients who had been alive and progression-free at 3 years, 10-year melanoma-specific survival was 96% with nivolumab plus ipilimumab, 97% with nivolumab, and 88% with ipilimumab.
Patients with microsatellite-instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch-repair-deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer have poor outcomes with standard chemotherapy with or without targeted therapies. Nivolumab plus ipilimumab has shown clinical benefit in nonrandomized studies of MSI-H or dMMR metastatic colorectal cancer. In this phase 3 open-label trial, we randomly assigned patients with unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer and MSI-H or dMMR status according to local testing to receive, in a 2:2:1 ratio, nivolumab plus ipilimumab, nivolumab alone, or chemotherapy with or without targeted therapies. The dual primary end points, assessed in patients with centrally confirmed MSI-H or dMMR status, were progression-free survival with nivolumab plus ipilimumab as compared with chemotherapy as first-line therapy and progression-free survival with nivolumab plus ipilimumab as compared with nivolumab alone in patients regardless of previous systemic treatment for metastatic disease. At this prespecified interim analysis, the first primary end point (involving nivolumab plus ipilimumab vs. chemotherapy) was assessed. A total of 303 patients who had not previously received systemic treatment for metastatic disease were randomly assigned to receive nivolumab plus ipilimumab or chemotherapy; 255 patients had centrally confirmed MSI-H or dMMR tumors. At a median follow-up of 31.5 months (range, 6.1 to 48.4), progression-free survival outcomes (the primary analysis) were significantly better with nivolumab plus ipilimumab than with chemotherapy (P<0.001 for the between-group difference in progression-free survival, calculated with the use of a two-sided stratified log-rank test); 24-month progression-free survival was 72% (95% confidence interval [CI], 64 to 79) with nivolumab plus ipilimumab as compared with 14% (95% CI, 6 to 25) with chemotherapy. At 24 months, the restricted mean survival time was 10.6 months (95% CI, 8.4 to 12.9) longer with nivolumab plus ipilimum
Patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma have a poor prognosis, and treatments with long-term benefits are needed. We report results from the preplanned interim analysis of the CheckMate 9DW trial assessing nivolumab plus ipilimumab versus lenvatinib or sorafenib for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma in the first-line setting. This open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial enrolled patients aged 18 years or older with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma without previous systemic therapy at 163 hospitals and cancer centres across 25 countries in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Patients had at least one measurable untreated lesion per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST) version 1.1, a Child-Pugh score of 5 or 6, and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) via an interactive response technology system to receive nivolumab (1 mg/kg) plus ipilimumab (3 mg/kg) intravenously every 3 weeks for up to four doses, followed by nivolumab 480 mg every 4 weeks or investigator's choice of either oral lenvatinib (8 mg or 12 mg mg daily depending on bodyweight) or oral sorafenib (400 mg twice daily). Randomisation was stratified by aetiology; the presence of macrovascular invasion, extrahepatic spread, or both; and baseline alpha-fetoprotein concentration. The primary endpoint was overall survival, which was assessed in all randomly assigned patients; safety was an exploratory endpoint and was assessed in all randomly assigned patients who received at least one dose of study medication. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04039607 (ongoing). Between Jan 6, 2020, and Nov 8, 2021, 668 patients were randomly assigned to nivolumab plus ipilimumab (n=335) or lenvatinib or sorafenib (n=333). Early crossing of the overall survival Kaplan-Meier curves reflected a higher number of deaths during the first 6 months after randomisation with nivolumab plus
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) improve outcomes in a wide range of cancers; however, serious adverse effects, including cardiovascular adverse effects (CVAEs), can occur. To determine the incidence of CVAEs and analyze data on the management of myocarditis in patients exposed to ICIs. PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception were searched on April 4, 2023. Two separate studies were performed. Key inclusion criteria for study 1 were phases 1 to 4 trials involving adults with malignant neoplasms treated with an ICI and toxicity data; for study 2, publications (case reports and retrospective analyses) on clinical manifestations and treatment of patients with ICI-induced CVAEs. Studies with dose escalation or fewer than 11 patients in each group and all case reports, retrospective analyses, letters, reviews, and editorials were excluded from study 1. Studies not published in English were excluded from study 2. The PRISMA guidelines and Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews were followed. Data were extracted independently by 2 researchers. A meta-analysis of the incidence of CVAEs in clinical trials and a systematic review of the evidence for the management of myocarditis were performed. Data were pooled using a random-effects model. In study 1, the primary outcome was incidence CVAEs in clinical trials with ICIs and ICI combination therapies. Study 2 examined evidence supporting specific management strategies that may decrease the mortality rate of myocarditis. The primary outcomes were planned before data collection began. In study 1, a total of 83 315 unique participants in 589 unique trials were included in the meta-analysis. Incidence of CVAEs induced by anti-programmed cell death 1 and/or programmed cell death ligand 1 was 0.80% (95% CI, 0%-1.66%) in clinical trials, with no differences between the compounds, except for cemiplimab, which was associated with a higher risk of CVAEs. Incidence of CVAEs following ipilimu