Chemotherapy vs. immunotherapy for the treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma

In this interview, Paul Nghiem, MD, PhD, from the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, discusses the results of the Phase II trial investigating pembrolizumab as a first-line treatment for advanced Merkel cell carcinoma (CITN-09; NCT02267603). Dr Nghiem compares the response rate and tolerability profile with that of chemotherapy, and then speaks about the shift in the treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma away from chemotherapy to immunotherapy. This interview was recorded at the American Society of Oncology (ASCO) 2018 Annual Meeting, held in Chicago, IL.