Ipilimumab alone or in combination with radiotherapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: results from an open-label, multicenter phase I/II study

This phase I/II study in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) explored ipilimumab as monotherapy and in combination with radiotherapy, based on the preclinical evidence of synergistic antitumor activity between anti-CTLA-4 antibody and radiotherapy. In dose escalation, 33 patients (≥6/cohort) received ipilimumab every 3 weeks × 4 doses at 3, 5, or 10 mg/kg or at 3 or 10 mg/kg + radiotherapy (8 Gy/lesion). The 10-mg/kg cohorts were expanded to 50 patients (ipilimumab monotherapy, 16; ipilimumab + radiotherapy, 34). Evaluations included adverse events (AEs), prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decline, and tumor response. Common immune-related AEs (irAEs) among the 50 patients receiving 10 mg/kg ± radiotherapy were diarrhea (54%), colitis (22%), rash (32%), and pruritus (20%); grade 3/4 irAEs included colitis (16%) and hepatitis (10%). One treatment-related death (5 mg/kg group) occurred. Among patients receiving 10 mg/kg ± radiotherapy, eight had PSA declines of ≥50% (duration: 3–13+ months), one had complete response (duration: 11.3+ months), and six had stable disease (duration: 2.8–6.1 months). In mCRPC patients, ipilimumab 10 mg/kg ± radiotherapy suggested clinical antitumor activity with disease control and manageable AEs. Two phase III trials in mCRPC patients evaluating ipilimumab 10 mg/kg ± radiotherapy are ongoing. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00323882.