The patients had all had chemotherapy and radiation followed by surgery to remove their cancers. Nivolumab is approved for some patients with other cancers, like Hodgkin’s lymphoma, melanoma and colorectal cancer. With the new study, experts expect the drug will readily win approval for treatment of early-stage esophageal cancer. Additional chemotherapy not only was difficult for patients to tolerate, but it also did not seem to help. Esophageal cancer is rare in the United States, accounting for 1 percent of all cancers; about 15,000 patients die each year.

Source: New York Times March 31, 2021 21:56 UTC