FDA Approves New LAG-3 Checkpoint Inhibitor Immunotherapy Combination
Melanoma patients and oncologists finally have an exciting new checkpoint immunotherapy available to them as a treatment option, eleven years after the first checkpoint inhibitor received FDA approval and eight years since a drug targeting a new immune checkpoint pathway received a nod from the regulatory agency.
On March 18, the FDA approved relatlimab, the first immunotherapy that targets the LAG-3 immune checkpoint pathway, to be given in combination with the previously approved immunotherapy nivolumab, for people aged 12 and older with untreated unresectable or metastatic melanoma.
Seven of the eight FDA-approved checkpoint immunotherapies, target the PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint, and the other targets the CTLA-4 checkpoint. This class of immunotherapy operates by interfering with the immune system’s off switches. Tumors manipulate these checkpoints to hinder anti-cancer immune responses in order to protect themselves. Blocking the off switches with checkpoint inhibitors. Although checkpoint inhibitors have been successful in some patients when given as a single drug, approaches that combine checkpoint inhibitors with other treatments will be key to enabling immunotherapy to help more patients.
LAG-3 is one of a number of immune checkpoint pathways that have been studied for their therapeutic potential in cancer treatment. In 2010, longtime CRI scientist Drew M. Pardoll, M.D., and Suzanne L. Topalian, M.D., both of Johns Hopkins Medicine, discovered the tumor-hindering effects of the LAG-3 checkpoint inhibitor in mice.
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