Barbara Boughton

A treatment regimen of pembrolizumab plus low-dose ipilimumab was tolerable and effective for patients with advanced melanoma.

In the largest-to-date analysis of treatment-naïve metastatic melanoma patients with BRAF V600 mutations treated with dabrafenib and trametinib, researchers have found that baseline LDH levels and number of disease sites were the most significant factors affecting survival.

Making real strides in melanoma care requires an understanding of BRAF resistance mechanisms.

Since the approval of the first checkpoint inhibitor, ipilimumab, several combinations and monotherapies have gained rapid approval, with continued expansion on the horizon.

With the FDA approval of the first oncolytic immunotherapy-talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC; Imlygic)-the stage has been set for increased research into these agents.

There were few differences in quality of life, global health, and symptom burden between patients with melanoma who were treated with nivolumab plus ipilimumab or either agent alone.

Predictive genetic signatures and novel combination strategies may be the key to improving the often dramatic responses seen with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

There is a wide variety of novel targets and corresponding checkpoint and immune blocker/activator therapies that may soon show promise in cancer care.