A recent phase I clinical trial has shown promising results for kidney transplant recipients with advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. The trial, which focused on the use of the immune checkpoint inhibitor cemiplimab in these patients, found that none of the 12 patients treated experienced kidney rejection, and 46% achieved an objective response to the treatment.
Traditionally, immune checkpoint inhibitors have been considered risky for solid organ transplant patients due to concerns about allograft rejection. However, this study suggests that combining cemiplimab with an mTOR inhibitor and steroids could be beneficial in preventing rejection after therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors in solid organ transplant recipients with metastatic cancer.
Although 42% of patients experienced grade 3 or higher adverse events during the trial, including one patient who sadly died due to complications from the mTOR inhibitor cross-switching, the overall results are encouraging. The combination of mTOR inhibitors and corticosteroids proved to be a favorable immunosuppressive regimen for these patients, leading to durable antitumor responses without any renal rejection events.
This study sheds light on a potential new treatment option for kidney transplant recipients with advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and highlights the importance of further research in this area.