Adding Relatlimab to Nivolumab/Chemo Did Not Increase Toxicity
Adding relatlimab to nivolumab and chemotherapy improved efficacy but did not increase safety concerns in advanced-stage lung cancer.
The addition of relatlimab to nivolumab (Opdivo)—a combination known as Opdualag—plus platinum-doublet chemotherapy not only improved clinical benefit, but also did not lead to a significant increase in adverse events, in patients with recurrent or stage 4 non–small cell lung cancer, according to the RELATIVITY-104 trial presented at the 2024 ESMO Annual Congress.
“We do not see that much difference, as previously discussed, in the safety profile [or] the risk of treatment-related adverse events with the addition of relatlimab to chemotherapy plus nivolumab,” said Nicolas Girard, head of the Curie-Montsouris Thorax Institute and professor of respiratory medicine at Versailles Saint Quentin University Paris Saclay Campus in Paris, France.
Girard explained that oncology nurses should monitor for grade 3 or worse neutropenic events. Other adverse events, such as those related to the blood or digestive tract, are actually related to the chemotherapy rather than the immunotherapy duo.
Transcript:
We do not see that much difference, as previously discussed, in the safety profile [or] the risk of treatment-related adverse events with the addition of relatlimab to chemotherapy plus nivolumab.
We have to pay attention to grade 3 or higher neutropenic-related adverse events, and this is why prophylactic neural growth factor is recommended, may also be recommended as secondary prophylaxis in younger patients. And then this is pretty standard monitoring for these patients. So mostly hematological side effects, digestive tract side effects, which are mostly related to chemotherapy.
