Dr. Warner Discusses Findings from COMBI-i Trial in Melanoma

Allison Betof Warner, MD, PhD, assistant professor and assistant attending at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the excitement surrounding the findings from the COMBI-i trial that was presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting. This trial investigated the combination of PD-1 inhibitor spartalizumab with dabrafenib (Tafinlar) plus trametinib (Mekinist) in patients with advanced BRAF V6000mutant melanoma.

The findings demonstrated a confirmed complete response rate of 40%, which is a number that has not been seen in the field of melanoma before. The combination also appears durable, says Warner. Targeted therapies are known for having great responses upfront but tend not to be long lasting. The combination of immunotherapy appears to make this treatment durable, she notes.

There were also concerns about overlapping toxicities in this triplet regimen. However, there were not any huge safety signals, and most patients can tolerate the combination.