Immunotherapy in Melanoma | Specialty

The OncLive Immunotherapy in Melanoma condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and expert insights on available and investigational immunotherapies in melanoma and other skin cancers. This page features news articles, interviews in written and video format, and podcasts that focus on updates with checkpoint inhibitors and the ongoing research with this type of treatment.

New Study Findings Confirm Pembrolizumab's Durable Responses in Metastatic Melanoma

June 2nd 2014

The anti-PD 1 checkpoint inhibitor, pembrolizumab, continues to deliver impressive results in patients with advanced melanoma-producing long-lasting responses and improved overall survival, regardless of whether patients have been previously treated with ipilimumab.

Adjuvant Ipilimumab Reduces Risk of Recurrence in Stage III Melanoma

June 2nd 2014

The immunotherapy drug ipilimumab reduced the relative risk of cancer recurrence in the adjuvant setting by 25% compared to placebo for patients with high-risk, lymph-node positive melanoma.

Dr. Andtbacka Discusses OS With T-VEC in Melanoma

June 2nd 2014

Robert H. I. Andtbacka, MD, CM, from the Huntsman Cancer Institute, discusses OS findings from the phase III OPTiM study that explored T-VEC in patients with unresectable melanoma.

Dr. Fong Discusses Intratumoral Electroporation of Plasmid IL-12 in Melanoma

June 2nd 2014

Lawrence Fong, MD, from the University of California, San Francisco, discusses the systemic antitumor effect and clinical response in a phase II trial of intratumoral electroporation of plasmid interleukin-12 in patients with advanced melanoma.

Rare Skin Cancer on Palms and Soles More Likely to Come Back Compared to Other Melanomas

May 29th 2014

Study raises concern about surgical "margins" for acral melanoma tumors, known to target the darker skins of Asians, African-Americans and Hispanics

Dr. Pavlick on a Phase II Trial of Cyclophosphamide and Ipilimumab in Melanoma

May 28th 2014

Anna C. Pavlick, DO, associate professor, Hematology and Medical Oncology, medical director, Clinical Trials Office, Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone, discusses a phase II trial exploring low-dose cyclophosphamide and ipilimumab in metastatic melanoma.

Dr. Luke Discusses the Phase III COMBI-d Trial Results

May 24th 2014

Jason J. Luke, MD, instructor, Department of Medicine, Harvard School of Medicine, staff physician, medical oncologist- melanoma, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the controversy behind the COMBI-d trial results.

Flaherty Provides Insight Into Future Combination Strategies in Metastatic Melanoma

May 14th 2014

Keith T. Flaherty, MD, discusses upcoming combination therapies being explored in melanoma, specifically those involving CDK4/6, BRAF/MEK, immune checkpoints, and other novel approaches.

Dr. Rosenberg Discusses the Curative Potential of Cancer Immunotherapy

May 13th 2014

Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, Chief of Surgery at the National Cancer Institute, discusses the curative potential of immunotherapy for patients with cancer.

Vemurafenib Combination Effective in Advanced BRAF-Mutant Melanoma

May 7th 2014

The combination of the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib with the investigational MEK inhibitor cobimetinib was safe and effective in treatment-naive patients with BRAFV600 mutation-positive metastatic melanoma.

FDA Grants Priority Review to PD-1 Inhibitor Pembrolizumab in Advanced Melanoma

May 6th 2014

The FDA has assigned a priority review designation to the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (MK-3475) as a treatment for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma following progression on ipilimumab.

Novel Immunotherapeutic Safe and Effective in Early-Phase Melanoma Study

April 23rd 2014

A novel immunotherapeutic known as IMCgp100 induced clinical responses with manageable toxicity in patients with advanced melanoma

Long-Term Outcomes Support Sentinel-Node Biopsy for Staging Melanoma

April 22nd 2014

A 10-year follow-up study of regional melanoma staging strategies found that patients who underwent sentinel-node biopsies had significantly greater disease-free survival rates (DFSRs) compared with patients monitored through nodal observation.

Durable T-VEC Responses Fail to Prolong Survival in Updated Analysis

April 18th 2014

Talimogene laherparepvec significantly improved durable response rates but failed to extend overall survival in patients with advanced melanoma.

PD-L1 Predictive of Response to MK-3475 in Melanoma and NSCLC

April 7th 2014

PD-L1 levels adequately predict response and clinical outcomes for PD-1 inhibitor MK-3475 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and melanoma

T-VEC Promotes Tumor Shrinkage in Unresectable Melanoma

March 17th 2014

The oncolytic immunotherapeutic vaccine talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) promoted tumor shrinkage in 64% of patients with advanced melanoma, including a marked reduction in the size of uninjected metastatic lesions

Nivolumab Delivers Durable Remissions With Low Toxicity in Advanced Melanoma

March 14th 2014

Nivolumab, a PD-1-specific antibody, has been shown to produce long-term remissions with limited toxicity in patients with advanced melanoma, according to results from one of the longest follow ups to examine the drug.

Dr. Lewis on Sequencing Strategies in Melanoma

March 14th 2014

Karl Lewis, MD, medical oncologist, associate professor, University of Colorado, discusses sequencing strategies for the treatment of melanoma.

New Paradigms Emerge for Translating Immunotherapy Into Broad Clinical Use

March 14th 2014

Although breakthrough successes are generating a renaissance for anticancer immunotherapies, the framework for translating promising research results into clinical practice remains very much under construction.

Blackwell Explores Emerging Trends in Treating HER2 Metastatic Breast Cancer

March 7th 2014

Since its approval in 1998 to treat metastatic breast cancer, the anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody trastuzumab has dramatically expanded life expectancy and improved quality of life for women diagnosed with HER2-positive disease.