Dr. Arkenau on Dabrafenib Combined With Trametinib for BRAF-mutated Melanoma

Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau, MD, PhD, executive medical director, Drug Development Unit, Sarah Cannon Research Institute-United Kingdom, discusses the overall survival (OS) 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.

The phase III study examined the combination versus single-agent dabrafenib in the first-line setting. Data demonstrated an improvement in OS in the combination arm (25 months) versus the single-agent arm (17 months), Arkenau explains. There was also a 29% reduction in the risk of death.

Patients treated with the combination also had less associated toxicities compared with those treated with the single-agent. These findings suggest that the combination could be the new standard of care for BRAF-mutant patients, he adds.