Biomarkers of pembrolizumab efficacy in advanced anal squamous cell carcinoma: analysis of a phase II clinical trial and a cohort of long-term responders.
Brandon M HuffmanHarshabad SinghLestat R AliNora HorickS Jennifer WangMegan T HoffmanKatherine A MetayerShayla MurrayAlexandra BirdThomas A AbramsLeah H BillerJennifer A ChanJeffrey A MeyerhardtNadine J McClearyWolfram GoesslingAnuj K PatelJeffrey S WischMatthew B YurgelunKent MouwBrendan ReardonEliezer Van AllenJessica A ZerilloJeffrey W ClarkAparna ParikhRobert J MayerBenjamin SchlechterKimmie NgSunil KumarCatherine Del Vecchio FitzCharlotte KuperwasserGlenn J HannaAndrew L CovelerDouglas A RubinsonEmma L WelshKathleen PfaffScott RodigStephanie K DouganJames M ClearyPublished in: Journal for immunotherapy of cancer (2024)
Pembrolizumab has durable efficacy in a rare subset of anal cancers. However, despite persistence of HPV infection, indicated by circulating HPV DNA, most advanced anal cancers have low numbers of tumor-associated CD8+PD-1+ T cells and are resistant to pembrolizumab.