The “Great Debate” at Immunotherapy Bridge 2020, December 3rd, 2020

• Main Authors: Paolo A. Ascierto, Joshua Brody, Lisa H. Butterfield, Olivera J. Finn, John Goldberg, Francesco Perrone, Ryan J. Sullivan, Bernard A. Fox, Patrick Hwu, Igor Puzanov
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2021-04-01
• Series: Journal of Translational Medicine
• Subjects: Immunotherapy; Cancer vaccine; Checkpoint inhibitors; Nivolumab; Pembrolizumab; Overall survival
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-021-02811-8

Abstract As part of the 2020 Immunotherapy Bridge virtual congress (December 2nd–3rd, Italy), the Great Debate session featured counterpoint views from leading experts on three clinical questions in immunotherapy today. The first of these was whether antitumoral vaccination is still a treatment option. The second topic debated whether anti-programmed death (PD)-1/PD-ligand (L)1 blockade should be the backbone for immunotherapy combination. Finally, the use of innovative study designs and surrogate endpoints was considered from both an academic and industry perspective. For each topic, two experts presented the argument and counter-argument in support of two different points of view. As with previous Bridge congresses, the debates were assigned by meeting Chairs and positions taken by experts during the debates may not have necessarily reflected their respective personal view. The views summarised in this article are based on available evidence but may reflect personal interpretation of these data, clinical experience and subjective opinion of the speaker.