Dr. Rotkowitz on the Dabrafenib/Trametinib Combination

Michael Rotkowitz, MD, medical oncologist, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Eastern Regional Medical Center, discusses bypassing resistance in patients with melanoma that are receiving vemurafenib.

Rotkowitz notes that melanoma has been at the forefront of new pharmaceutical developers, in recent years. This includes the immunotherapy ipilimumab and the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib. However, in some cases the responses to these medications will only last a few months before resistance is acquired. This makes studying the mechanisms of resistance very important.

In many cases, tumors bypass BRAF inhibition using the MEK pathway. This resistance pathway established the rational behind the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib.

Rotkowitz notes that early data has shown that the combination helped control the tumor and even limited the side effects that are normally associated with BRAF inhibition.

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