Five-year overall survival with ipilimumab and stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for metastatic disease

Ipilimumab plus stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) demonstrate satisfactory short-term clinical benefit and low toxicities in metastatic cancers. Here, we report the 5-year overall survival (OS) rates for patients with metastatic disease treated with this combined-modality therapy in a phase II trial (NCT02239900).

SABR was delivered to patients with metastatic lesions in the liver and lung either during the first dose (concurrent) or 1 week after the second dose (sequential) of ipilimumab (every 3 weeks for 4 cycles). SABR was administered to liver or lung metastases as 50 Gy in 4 fractions or 60 Gy in 10 fractions, considering the tumor location. The OS rates at 12, 36, and 60 months were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method; subgroup analyses of progression-free survival (PFS) and OS by SABR-targeted lesions (liver/lung) were performed by log-rank tests.

A total of 106 patients were enrolled in this long-term follow-up analysis. At the median follow-up time of 15.32 months (range, 0.97-82.13 months), the median PFS was 6.52 months (95% CI, 5.86-7.14) and the median OS was 15.32 months (95% CI,13.03-17.23). The 12-, 36-, and 60-month OS rates were 61%, 23%, and 15%, respectively. There was a significant difference in OS between cohorts (P = 0.039), with a stronger response observed in lung-treated subgroups. Patients who had received sequential fractions (50 Gy/4f) to the lung had improved OS compared to those who had received sequential fractions (18.29 vs 8.9 months, P = 0.043) to the liver. Subgroup analysis of SABR-targeted lesions showed that lung-targeted groups had significantly longer PFS (6.87 months vs. 5.63 months, P = 0.034) and OS (18.67 months vs. 13.63 months, P = 0.013) compared to liver-targeted groups. The sequence did not affect the outcomes of PFS and OS. Exploratory analyses showed that SABR-targeted lesions and smoking history comprised an independent risk factor for OS.

Updated 5-year OS data from the phase II trial demonstrate the long-term clinical benefit of ipilimumab and SABR, which warrants further research and cumulative data.