Talimogene Laherparepvec in Non-Melanoma Cancers

Antoine Salloum; Jenna Koblinski; Nagham Bazzi; Nathalie C Zeitouni

Talimogene Laherparepvec in Non-Melanoma Cancers

J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2021 Nov;14(11):18-25.

Authors

Antoine Salloum^{1

2

3}, Jenna Koblinski^{1

2

3}, Nagham Bazzi^{1

2

3}, Nathalie C Zeitouni^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Dr. Salloum is with the Department of Dermatology at Saint George Hospital University Medical Center in Beirut, Lebanon, and Dermatologic Surgicenter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
² Drs. Koblinski and Zeitouni are with the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix, Arizona.
³ Dr. Bazzi is with the Faculty of Medicine at Lebanese University in Beirut, Lebanon.

PMID: 34980955
PMCID: PMC8675341

Abstract

Background: Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) is the first oncolytic virus therapy approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (in 2015) for the treatment of advanced-stage melanoma. Despite a paucity of Phase III trials for T-VEC as a therapy for non-melanoma cancers, successful off-label use of T-VEC for this purpose has been reported in the literature.

Objective: We sought to review the literature describing T-VEC as a treatment for non-melanoma cancer.

Methods: Systematic searches of the PubMed literature database and ClinicalTrials.gov website were performed in July 2020, focusing on T-VEC in combination with non-melanoma cancer, including squamous cell carcinoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, sarcoma, cutaneous B-cell lymphoma, and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Articles were screened based on their title and abstract.

Results: Nine articles with 87 patients were included. Relevant articles included case reports, case series, and Phase I and Phase II trials. The majority of patients in the studies had refractory cancers or had been heavily pretreated. Overall, T-VEC demonstrated efficacy for non-melanoma cancer, both independently and in combination with biologics.

Conclusion: T-VEC has demonstrated efficacy for non-melanoma cancers. Phase III trials of T-VEC for this indication are warranted to expand its clinical utility.

Keywords: Merkel cell carcinoma; Talimogene laherparepvec; cutaneous B-cell lymphoma; cutaneous T-cell lymphoma; non-melanoma cancer; sarcoma; squamous cell carcinoma.

Publication types

Review