Melanoma & Skin Cancer

Michael B. Atkins, MD, deputy director, Georgetown-Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses data from a phase I trial exploring the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) in patients with melanoma.

By the end of 2018, the 57 oncology drugs launched from 2014 to 2018 had gained 89 indications across 23 cancer types. These new agents included numerous checkpoint inhibitors, which saw tremendous uptake based on their ability to dramatically improve patient outcomes.

As the immunotherapy research field grows, NY-ESO-1 is emerging as a high-priority target for cancer vaccine development and adoptive T-cell therapies.

The FDA granted a breakthrough therapy designation to the combination of bempegaldesleukin (NKTR-214) and nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with previously untreated unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

Keith T. Flaherty, MD, director, Henri and Belinda Termeer Center for Targeted Therapy and director of clinical research, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses the rationale to explore triplet therapy in BRAF V600-mutant melanoma.

Paul D. Nathan, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, discusses the 5-year analysis of the COMBI-d and COMBI-v trials, which look at the long-term effects of dabrafenib plus trametinib in patients with BRAF V600–mutant unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

David Polsky, MD, PhD, Alfred W. Kopf, MD Professor of Dermatologic Oncology, Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, professor, Department of Pathology, and director, Pigmented Lesion Service, NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, discusses the predictive value of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in BRAF-mutant melanoma.

Georgina V. Long, BSc, PhD, MBBS, FRACP, co-medical director of Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA), chair of Melanoma Medical Oncology and Translational Research at MIA and Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney, discusses results from the 5-year analysis of the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib in patients with BRAF V600E-mutant melanoma.

Ulcerated melanoma is associated with worse outcomes and appears to be driven in part by systemic inflammation, which is more common in smokers, obese individuals, and those with vitamin D deficiency.

Nikhil Khushalani, MD, vice chair, Department of Cutaneous Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the plans for the CA045-001 trial, an international, multicenter study that is comparing bempegaldesleukin plus nivolumab versus nivolumab monotherapy in patients with previously untreated, unresectable, or metastatic melanoma.