Investigators has conducted a series of studies on patient selection for perioperative immunotherapy in locally advanced gastric cancer. Results from prospective single-arm trial (NCT05739045) demonstrated that 21.74% of patients achieved pathological complete response (pCR) after receiving neoadjuvant nivolumab combined with SOX regimen. Notably, investigators identified that the sensitive group exhibited upregulated MHC-II expression in malignant cells at baseline, with enriched pathways including interferon-gamma signaling and MHC class II antigen presentation. The pCR rate was significantly higher in MHC-II positive patients compared to MHC-II negative patients (36.84% vs 11.11%, P=0.038). Subsequent retrospective analyses and another prospective single-arm study focusing on MHC-II positive populations consistently showed superior short-term treatment outcomes with immunotherapy plus chemotherapy in this subgroup.
Building upon these preliminary findings from small-scale studies and considering current developments in the field, we are now initiating this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III clinical trial. The study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tislelizumab combined with chemotherapy versus placebo plus chemotherapy as perioperative treatment for MHC-II positive patients with locally advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.