Tebentafusp Boosts Survival in Metastatic Uveal Melanoma
November 25th 2020Tebentafusp (IMCgp100) showed superiority in overall survival (OS) compared with investigator’s choice of therapy in patients with previously untreated metastatic uveal melanoma, according to results of a preplanned interim analysis of the phase 3 IMCgp100-202 trial (NCT03070392).
Cemiplimab Is Promising for Metastatic Basal Cell Carcinoma Treatment
November 18th 2020Cemiplimab (Libtayo) demonstrated clinically meaningful antitumor activity, including durable responses, and acceptable safety in patients with metastatic basal cell carcinoma (mBCC) after progression on or intolerance to hedgehog inhibitors.
Cabozantinib Plus Pembrolizumab May Improve Melanoma Outcomes
November 13th 2020In an effort to further improve outcomes without sacrificing tolerability, the combination of cabozantinib (Cabometyx) with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is being evaluated in patients with advanced melanoma in a phase 1b/2 study (NCT03957551), according to a virtual presentation during the 2020 SITC Annual Meeting.
Predicting Immunotherapy Response in Melanoma
November 11th 2020Subgroup analyses from the phase III CheckMate-067 trial identified potential biomarkers in patients who achieved a complete response (CR) with the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) but later progressed, according to Georgina V. Long, BSc, PhD, MBBS, FRACP.1 Now, investigators are working to answer more questions about this group of patients.
Better Disease Biology Is Needed to Improve Melanoma Outcomes
November 5th 2020Despite the recent advancements with BRAF-targeted therapies and PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors, there is still much to learn in the field of melanoma, especially with regard to disease biology, according to Jason J. Luke, MD, FACP, who added that this understanding is needed to inform development and sequencing strategies, as emphasized during the 2020 SMR Virtual Congress.
Three-Drug Combos May Overcome Targeted Therapy Resistance in Melanoma
November 2nd 2020The addition of anti–PD-1/PD-L1 to combination BRAF and MEK inhibition has been shown to improve progression-free survival (PFS) and duration of response (DOR) in patients with BRAF-mutated melanoma, suggesting potential to overcome resistance to targeted approaches, said Grant McArthur, MBBS, PhD, in a presentation during the 2020 SMR Virtual Congress.
BRAF-Mutant Melanoma Field Continues to Move Forward
June 9th 2020Efforts are being made to address remaining questions in the realm of BRAF-mutant melanoma, according to Charles L. Sawyers, MD. Areas of interest include determining the effectiveness of adding immunotherapy to targeted therapy and whether intermittent dosing of BRAF/MEK inhibitor combinations might yield more benefit than continuous dosage.
Dabrafenib/Trametinib Brings Remission-Free Survival Advantage to Melanoma Subset
June 6th 2020Five-year findings from the phase 3 COMBI-AD trial revealed that the combination of dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) led to sustained long-term relapse-free survival (RFS) benefit compared with placebo for patients with resected, stage III BRAF V600E/K–mutant melanoma, said Axel Hauschild, MD, PhD.
T-Cell Therapies Are Promising in Melanoma, But Challenges Remain
April 13th 2020T-cell therapies, such as tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy, and CAR T-cell therapy, which have shown preliminary signals of activity, are poised to have a dramatic impact in metastatic melanoma, according to Jason J. Luke, MD, FACP.
Detecting and Managing irAEs in Melanoma Is Crucial
January 20th 2020Being able to quickly detect and properly manage adverse events (AEs) that arise in patients with melanoma who are receiving immunotherapy is key to improving their experience with treatment, explained Kathleen Madden, RN, MSN, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, APHN.