OncoSec announces positive results in metastatic melanoma case study
December 4, 2020 By Brian Buntz
The International Journal of Surgery Case Reports has published a case study on the use of the humanized antibody Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and tavokinogene telseplasmid (TAVO) from OncoSec (NSDQ:ONCS) for treating metastatic melanoma.
The study involved a patient with stage IIB, pT3b melanoma who initially underwent tumor resection but experienced regional recurrence and later disease progression in the skin, brain, liver and lymph nodes.
The patient also had rheumatoid arthritis.
Physicians treated the patient's subcutaneous and in-transit lesions with TAVO and intravenous pembrolizumab. TAVO is directly injected into the tumor using electroporation. All of the lesions treated with the method resolved. The patient's brain and lung tumors also regressed, and lymph node disease in the chest and lungs was also resolved while brain metastasis was stable.
The study authors concluded that the therapy led to a whole-body response. They also determined that the combination of pembrolizumab and tavokinogene telseplasmid is a promising therapy for metastatic melanoma that resists treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
The patient received the therapy as part of OncoSec's expanded access program. "This is yet another example of the cruciality of robust expanded access programs, as they provide hope to patients who often do not meet the stringent inclusion clinical trial requirements," said Dr. James Nitzkorski of Vassar Brothers Medical Center in prepared remarks.
Filed Under: Immunotherapy, Oncology, Surgical Tagged With: electroporation, Keytruda, melanoma, Oncosec, pembrolizumab, TAVO, tavokinogene telseplasmid
About Brian Buntz
The pharma and biotech editor of WTWH Media, Brian is a veteran journalist with more than 15 years of experience covering an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, drug discovery and development and medical devices. Before coming to WTWH, he served as content director focused on connected devices at Informa. In addition, Brian covered the medical device sector for 10 years at UBM. At Qmed, he overhauled the brand's news coverage and helped to grow the site's traffic volume dramatically. He had previously held managing editor roles on two of the company's medical device technology publications. Connect with him on LinkedIn or email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.