Hisato Kawakami, MD, PhD, Kindai University, Osaka, Japan, talks on the Phase III CheckMate 648 (NCT03143153) trial, in which the efficacy of nivolumab plus ipilimumab or nivolumab combined with fluorouracil plus cisplatin was compared to fluorouracil plus cisplatin only in patients with unresectable advanced, recurrent or metastatic previously-untreated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Dr Kawakami comments on the several factors which were associated with a delayed therapeutic onset of treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab, including age and alcohol use, and the implications of this. Moreover, the Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS) and its association with the efficacy of nivolumab plus ipilimumab is discussed. This interview took place at the European Society for Medical Oncology World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer (ESMO WCGIC) 2022 in Barcelona, Spain.