Dr. Hamid on Promising Phase III Trials in Melanoma

Omid Hamid, MD, chief, Translational Research and Immunotherapy, director, Melanoma Therapeutics, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, discusses 2 promising, ongoing phase III randomized trials in melanoma.

Some important takeaways from recent phase III trials in this space include both higher response rates and possibly lower toxicity profiles, says Hamid. Plus, biomarker analyses have helped inform researchers about the patients who will respond best to which therapies.

One exciting phase III trial is comparing a combination of epacadostat, an IDO inhibitor, and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) with pembrolizumab alone for patients with melanoma. The phase I/II trial results had shown an approximate 58% response rate in the first-line setting, says Hamid.

Another trial is comparing talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) with ipilimumab alone. Hamid says T-VEC has already shown great responses in combination with checkpoint inhibition, so these phase III results are expected to be equally favorable.

Both of these trials will lend greater insight into what types of patients will respond best to certain therapies, and they will continue to support investigations into combinatorial therapeutics, says Hamid.