Melanoma & Skin Cancer

The combination of dabrafenib plus trametinib improved overall survival by 7.6 months compared with single-agent vemurafenib in patients with unresectable or metastatic BRAFV600E/K-mutant melanoma.

The combination of the attenuated oncolytic virus talimogene laherparepvec and the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab for unresectable melanoma has passed an early safety evaluation.

Two strategies of sequential immunotherapy for advanced melanoma showed similar safety and tolerability but substantially different efficacy.

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to a supplemental biologics license application for nivolumab plus ipilimumab in previously untreated patients with advanced melanoma.

Immunotherapy expert Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, will join NYU Langone Medical Center's Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center as its deputy director and co-director of its melanoma program.

Jason J. Luke, MD, assistant professor of Medicine, University of Chicago Medicine, discusses combination approaches that are on the horizon for the treatment of patients with melanoma.

Advanced SCCS continues to be a treatment challenge given the aggressive behavior of a subset of cases and the absence of randomized clinical trials to provide guidelines for therapy.

Juneko Grilley-Olson, MD, assistant professor, UNC-Chapel Hill, Clinical Research, Thoracic Oncology Program, Head and Neck Oncology Program, Bone and Soft Tissue Oncology Program, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses treating patients with cancer based on their molecular profile.

David Piccioni, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Neuroscience and Neuro-Oncology, UC San Diego Health, discusses tumor profiling of brain metastases of patients with non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma.

The combination of dabrafenib (Tafinlar) plus trametinib (Mekinist) has been approved in the EU for advanced melanoma.

Anna Pavlick, DO, discusses immunotherapy and targeted combination regimens in advanced melanoma.

The European Commission has approved the hedgehog inhibitor sonidegib (Odomzo) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (laBCC) who are not amenable to curative surgery or radiation therapy.

The FDA has granted a priority review to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as a frontline treatment for patients with advanced melanoma.

The FDA has extended the review period for frontline nivolumab in patients with advanced melanoma by 3 months, to allow ample time to review additional data submitted by the PD-1 inhibitor's developer Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Jeffrey M. Trent, MD, president and research director, Translational Genomics Research Institute, discusses the Stand Up to Cancer-Melanoma Research Alliance Dream Team.

The FDA has approved sonidegib (Odomzo) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma that has recurred.

The FDA has assigned a priority review designation to the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib for patients with unresectable or metastatic BRAFV600 mutation-positive melanoma.

Aleksandar Sekulic, MD, PhD, chief resident associate, Dermatology, Clinician Investigator Training Program, Mayo Clinic, discusses the rationale for molecular testing in patients with advanced melanoma.

The European Commission has approved the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab as a treatment for adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma in the first-line and previously treated settings.

Advances in the field of immunotherapy and targeted therapy have brought about new recommendations for patients with melanoma.

Melissa A. Wilson, MD, PhD, discusses how targeted therapies and combination protocols are revolutionizing the treatment paradigm of advanced melanoma.

Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau, MD, PhD, executive medical director, Drug Development Unit, Sarah Cannon Research Institute-United Kingdom, discusses the overall survival results of the COMBI-d study, which examined the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic BRAF V600-mutated melanoma.

James P. Allison, PhD, was honored in the Scientific Advances category with a 2014 Giants of Cancer Care® award, a program that the Intellisphere® Oncology Specialty Group launched to honor leaders in the field.

The FDA has extended the review period for the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib in combination with the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf) for patients with BRAFV600 mutation-positive advanced melanoma by 3 months, making the new decision date November 11, 2015.

Howard L. Kaufman, MD, discusses the rapidly advancing immunotherapy armamentarium in melanoma.

OncLive sat down with Jason J. Luke, MD, discusses the key areas in the treatment of melanoma discussed at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting included selecting appropriate immunotherapy regimens based on PD-L1 status and improving surgical practices.

Marc Ernstoff, MD, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cleveland Clinic, discusses results from a study examining the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) in patients with advanced BRAF-mutated or BRAF wild-type melanoma.

The European Commission has approved nivolumab as a treatment for patients with advanced melanoma in the first- and later-line setting regardless of BRAF mutation status, making it the first PD-1 inhibitor to gain approval in Europe.