AACR 2022 | Intratumoral immunotherapy with BO-112 + pembrolizumab in patients with anti-PD1 refractory melanoma

Ángel Alberich-Bayarri, PhD, QUIBIM – Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers in Medicine, Valencia, Spain, speaks on preliminary results from SPOTLIGHT203 (NCT04570332). The Phase II trial evaluated intratumoral BO-112 plus pembrolizumab in unresectable melanoma with confirmed progression on PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. BO-112 is a double stranded synthetic RNA formulated with polyethyleneimine (PEI) that has been shown to mobilize the immune system and alter the tumor microenvironment by mimicking a viral infection. Radiomic signatures are being explored as an alternative to standard response criteria which may not accurately describe tumor burden. CD-8 and PD-L1 signatures were assessed by immunohistochemistry, compared with multi-parametric radiologic findings, and correlated with clinical benefit. There were significant differences between injected and non-injected lesions possibly related to the CD-8 parameter. Another interesting finding is that these differences are mainly observed in patients with partial or complete response and not in those with stable or progressing disease. This interview took place at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA.