Dr. Glitza on Intrathecal Nivolumab Approaches in Leptomeningeal Disease

Isabella C. Glitza, MD, assistant professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses a single-center phase I/Ib trial of concurrent intravenous and intrathecal nivolumab (Opdivo) for patients with metastatic melanoma and leptomeningeal disease.

At the 2019 International Congress of the Society for Melanoma Research, Glitza shared the safety findings for the intrathecal approach to treating leptomeningeal disease, while efficacy data will be presented at a later date. Overall, there were no added toxicities with the intrathecal approach and no additional grade 3/4 adverse events in general, she says.

Investigators are very pleased with these data as they established the safety for the intrathecal approach to treating leptomeningeal disease, as well as the feasibility of this type of trial.