Over 250 participants took part in the fifth NISS-Merck Meet-up, and the first one of 2019. This meet-up focused on "Statistical Challenges in Immuno-Oncology".
Immuno-oncology is the study and development of treatments that take advantage of the body’s immune system to fight cancer. Promising clinical results from this approach in multiple indications have energized research in this area and led to regulatory approvals of multiple immune-therapies. The promise of this class of cancer treatments has also prompted statisticians to dive deeper into important statistical issues associated with the design and evaluation of these therapies. Issues of particular interest include pseudoprogression, dose optimization, combination therapies, and non-proportional hazards. This meet-up focused on some of these statistical issues and the resulting opportunities that have arisen for statisticians.
There were two speakers featured at the meet-up. The first speaker was Bo Huang, Director of Biostatistics at Pfizer with over 35 publications and is known as an avid supporter of oncology programs. Bo Huang's talk was titled "Quantifying the Long-term Treatment Benefit with Cancer Immunotherapies".
The second speaker was Cong Chen the Executive Director and Head of Early Oncology Statistics at Merck and ASA fellow who spoke on "Some Adaptive Design Options for Late Stage Development of Oncology Immunotherapies".
Andrew Stone of Stone Biostatistics with over 25 years experience in biostatistics and former leader of Astra-Zeneca oncology statistics was then asked to provide comments and help to moderate the discussion that followed.
For those of you that were not able to attend live, you can review the recording of the complete session here:
Mark you Calendars! The next NISS-Merck Meet-up is scheduled for April 1, 2019 - 11:00 am -12:30 pm, Eastern Daylight Time and will re-convene around the topic of real-world data. Follow the link below for additional information and how to connect:
Next Meet-up! "Applications of Real World Data"