Back

Activity of low dose nivolumab in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinomas and other cancers

Gauduchon, T.; Fayette, J.; Amini-Adle, M.; Neidhart-Berard, E.-M.; Brahmi, M.; Dufresne, A.; Dupont, M.; Coutzac, C.; De Bernardi, A.; Toussaint, P.; Mery, B.; Crumbach, L.; Ray-Coquard, I.; Dutour, A.; Castets, M.; Blay, J.-Y.; HEUDEL, P.

2026-03-27 oncology
10.64898/2026.03.25.26349285 medRxiv
Show abstract

Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PD1 antibodies are essential in cancer therapy. Emerging data suggest that lower doses may be effective and more economical, though further evidence is needed. We conducted a retrospective study at Centre Leon Berard to assess the efficacy and safety of low-dose nivolumab (20 mg every three weeks) in patients with advanced cancer, mainly squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). Between 2023 and 2024, 53 patients were treated, with a median age of 74 years; 39.6% were over 80. Most were male (64%) and had ECOG >1 (69.9%). Primary tumor sites included cutaneous SCC (34%), head and neck SCC (32%), and soft tissue sarcoma (15%). After a median follow-up of 8.3 months, median overall survival was 7.5 months. The objective response rate (ORR) was 20.8% overall, rising to 35.3% in cutaneous SCC and 23.5% in head and neck SCC-comparable to standard-dose nivolumab. Toxicity was manageable: 18.7% experienced immune-related adverse events, with only 3.7% grade 3. Low-dose nivolumab demonstrates encouraging efficacy and tolerability in a frail population, supporting its potential role in resource-limited settings. Prospective trials are warranted to confirm these findings in broader populations.

Matching journals

The top 7 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.

50% of probability mass above

"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.