Positive results for the use of neoadjuvant cemiplimab in people with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) were published in New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology held in Paris this week.

Positive results for the use of neoadjuvant cemiplimab in people with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) were published in New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology held in Paris this week.

Professor Danny Rischin, Director of the Division of Cancer Medicine and Head of the Department of Medical Oncology at Peter Mac said; “Using neoadjuvant cemiplimab prior to surgery in locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma resulted in remarkable results with disappearance of all evidence of cancer prior to surgery in half the patients.

“This therapy has the potential to alter the way we treat locally advanced skin squamous cell cancers as it may allow less extensive and less disfiguring surgery and further studies may establish whether this approach decreases the need for radiotherapy.

Cemiplimab is a type of cancer treatment known as a PD-1 inhibitor that works by blocking the cancers ability to hide from the immune system.

The treatment was tested in a large international Phase II trial involving people that had stage II to IV resectable CSCC which is the second most common form of skin cancer.

In the confirmatory, multicenter, single-arm Phase II trial, 79 patients received up to four fixed doses of cemiplimab every 3 weeks prior to surgery, with 62 receiving all 4 doses and 70 undergoing surgery.

“Peter Mac’s involvement in the trial allowed our skin squamous cell cancer patients access to this promising treatment," said Professor Danny Rischin.