Certificate in Cancer Immunotherapy Module 3: Immune Checkpoint Blockade

Published December 1, 2020

Check out the updated version with new FDA drug approvals (As of 03/20/2023*), Available now......

 

Course Description
This interactive online course is part of the Certificate in Cancer Immunotherapy program, produced by the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC). The purpose of the certificate program is to provide hospitals, medical centers, third-party payers, referring physicians, trainees and patients with an identifiable designation for healthcare providers who can safely and effectively participate in administration of immunotherapies and manage patients treated with these approaches. View all eight modules of the program and a detailed description of the program here.

This course, Module 3: Immune Checkpoint Blockade, will cover the biological foundation of immune checkpoint blockade therapies as well as diving into their clinical use.


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Target Audience
The program is available to licensed physicians (U.S. licensed MD / DO or global equivalent). The courses and earning of the certificate (SITC-G; G = graduate) are also available to practicing, licensed NPs, PAs, and PharmDs or global equivalent. RPh degree holders are eligible if they are involved in direct clinical services. The courses are available to others who are not practicing clinicians, but they will not be eligible to earn the certificate.

Faculty
Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD
Hillman Professor of Oncology
Director, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
Associate Vice Chancellor for Cancer Research
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA

 

Learning Objectives

Topic

At the conclusion of this activity, the participant should be able to:

Basic Mechanisms of Checkpoint
Blockade in Immunotherapy
  • Describe the basis for co-stimulation in T cell activation and priming.
  • Explain the mechanisms and consequences of co-inhibitory immune checkpoint receptors (ICR).
  • Identify negative downstream regulatory motifs and pathways associated with ICR signaling.
  • Distinguish the distinct activities of antibodies that target PD-1 compared to those that target PD-L1
Biomarkers of Response to ICB and General Clinical Utility
  • Describe major biomarkers for patient eligibility for the use of immune checkpoint blockade across cancers (PD-L1 expression and extent, IFN signature, CD8 infiltration, Tumor Mutational Burden) and their relative value for prediction of clinical benefit.
  • Distinguish between validated and investigational biomarkers.
  • Describe the use of biomarkers to predict ORR, PFS and OS.
  • Identify patient-specific factors that may predict response (tumor burden, prior chemotherapy exposure, age, gender, site of disease, prior radiotherapy, etc.).
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and Combination Approaches
  • Describe general clinical benefits of ICB with PD-1 or CTLA-4 monotherapy, or ICB combinations (including IO+IO and IO+other cancer therapy combinations).
  • Distinguish the benefits, dose and schedules of combination ICB versus the benefits, dose and schedule of conventional therapies (chemotherapy, radiation therapy and targeted therapies).
  • Identify validated vs investigational ICB combinations, and relevant cancer types.
Monitoring Response to Checkpoint Blockade
  • Distinguish response criteria in ICB vs standard cancer treatment.
  • Describe kinetics and patterns of response to ICB.
  • Distinguish pseudoprogression from true disease progression.
  • Identify when to suspend or discontinue ICB treatment.


 


SITC Online Education Disclaimer

 

A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product discussed. Readers should verify all information and data before treating patients or employing any therapies described in this educational activity.



Continuing Education Information

Date of CE Release:  December 1, 2022
Date of CE Expiration: December 1, 2023
Approximate Time to Complete:  90 minutes

Acknowledgement of Financial Commercial Support
No financial commercial support was received for this educational activity.

Acknowledgement of In-Kind Commercial Support
No in-kind commercial support was received for this educational activity.

Satisfactory Completion

Learners must listen to each self-directed audio recording while following along with the visual slides/read the articles, pass the post-test with a score of 80% or higher (unlimited attempts) and complete an evaluation form to receive a certificate of completion. You must participate in the entire activity as partial credit is not available. If you are seeking continuing education credit for a specialty not listed below, it is your responsibility to contact your licensing/certification board to determine course eligibility for your licensing/certification requirement.

Physicians / Nurses / Pharmacist

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Amedco LLC and SITC.  Amedco LLC is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation  Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.


Credit Designation Statement – Amedco LLC designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ for physicians, 1.50 contact hours for nurses, and 1.50 knowledge-based contact hours for pharmacists. Learners should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. This meeting has applied to CAMPEP for approval of 1.5 MPCEC hours.

NOTE to Pharmacists: The only official Statement of Credit is the one you pull from CPE Monitor. You must request your certificate within 30 days of the activity to meet the deadline for submission to CPE Monitor.

ABIM MOC Credit
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 1.50 Part 2 MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.

Disclosure of Conflict of Interest
The following table of disclosure information is provided to learners and contains the relevant financial relationships that each individual in a position to control the content disclosed to Amedco.  All of these relationships were treated as a conflict of interest, and have been resolved.  (C7 SCS 6.1-­6.2, 6.5)

All individuals in a position to control the content of CE are listed online. If their name is not listed below, they disclosed that they had no relevant financial relationships.
 

FIRST NAME

LAST NAME

RELATIONSHIP:COMMERCIAL INTEREST

Robert

Ferris

Aduro Biotech, Inc; Amgen; Astra-Zeneca/MedImmune; Bain Capital Life Sciences; BMS; EMD Serono; GSK; Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc; Lilly; MacroGenics, Inc; Merck; Nanobiotix; Numab Therapeutics AG; Oncorus, Inc; Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd; Pfizer; PPD (Benitec, Immunicum); Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc; Tesaro; Torque Therapeutics; TTMS; VentiRx Pharmaceuticals:Consulting Fees

Astra-Zeneca/MedImmune; BMS; Merck; Tesaro; TTMS:Contracted Research

 

Janssen, Eli Lilly, Scibase, DermTech, BMS, Pfizer:Partner Consulting Fees

 

Regeneron, Janssen, BMS, Abbvie, Novartis, BI, Castle Biosciences, Eli Lilly: Partner Contracted Research

 

Jose

Lutzky

Castle, Kimera Labs, Array, Iovance: Consulting Fees
 

BMS, Novartis, Iovance, Replimune, Regeneron: Contracted Research

 

Method of Participation and Request for Credit
During the period 12/1/22 through 12/1/23 participants must read the learning objectives and faculty disclosures and study the educational activity.

Once the participant has passed the post-test with a score of 80% or higher (unlimited attempts allowed), and the course evaluation has been completed, credit will be automatically requested to the CRO the participant has selected during the registration process. 

Certificates will be available to the participant for printing after passing the post-test and completing the course evaluation.

For Pharmacists: Upon successfully completing the post-test with a score of 80% or better and the activity evaluation form, transcript information will be sent to the NABP CPE Monitor Service within 4 weeks.

Media
Internet

Hardware and Software Requirements
SITC connectED requires a modern web browser (Edge, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 7+) and the ability to listen to audio with the content.

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use
This educational activity may contain a discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. The planners of this activity do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications.

The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of the planners. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer
Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s conditions and possible contraindications and/or dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.

Certificate in Cancer Immunotherapy Module 3: Immune Checkpoint Blockade

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Individual topic purchase: Selected
Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and ABIM Maintenance of Certification
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ / ABIM Maintenance of Certification Part 2 Credit: 1.50
Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (non-MD/DO)
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™: 1.50
American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation
Contact Hour: 1.50
Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (MD/DO)
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™: 1.50
Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education
Contact Hour: 1.50
Certificate of Participation (No Credit)
Certificate of Participation: 0.00
Products
Certificate in Cancer Immunotherapy Module 3: Immune Checkpoint Blockade