Phase II Nivolumab and Ramucirumab for Patients With Previously-Treated Mesothelioma

The programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) \[16\] and VEGFR2 \[34\] are highly-expressed on mesothelioma cells, and are therefore attractive options for this cancer. We chose to study the combination of ramucirumab with nivolumab because of the potential efficacy of these two agents in mesothelioma and because of the potential synergistic activity between them \[30\]. As previously discussed, immunotherapies such as anti-PD-1 inhibitors must contend with a hostile, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment due to angiogenesis that results in hypoxia. This hypoxia decreases the ability of antibodies to infiltrate the tumor. We hypothesize that the normalization of tumor vasculature (by reducing the area of the tumor that is hypoxic) with an anti-VEGF strategy (i.e., ramucirumab) used in synergy with a PD-1 inhibitor will facilitate the infiltration of T-lymphocytes into tumor parenchyma. We will conduct a phase II study based on this premise using nivolumab and ramucirumab as second-line therapy in patients with malignant mesothelioma who have failed standard doublet platinum and anti-folate therapy.