Melanoma & Skin Cancer

The FDA has granted Priority Review designation to dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) as a combination treatment for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAFV600E/K mutation.

The investigational MAGE-A3 immunotherapeutic did not significantly extend disease-free survival (DFS) in certain patients with postsurgical melanoma when compared with a placebo in a phase III study.

Until recently, the cornerstone of therapy for metastatic melanoma had been chemotherapy with dacarbazine (DTIC) and immunotherapy with high-dose interleukin-2 (HD IL-2) or interferon-α (IFN-α).

Jeffrey A. Sosman, MD, Professor of Medicine, Director, Melanoma and Tumor Immunotherpay Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, discusses how immunotherapies work in patients with melanoma or renal cancer.

High doses of interleukin-2 could be used to treat patients with melanoma whose disease has metastasized to the brain, potentially expanding options in a population facing a grim prognosis.

Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, from the University of Pennsylvania, describes two trials presented at the 2013 ASCO Meeting looking at nivolumab in patients with melanoma.

Nivolumab, the most advanced agent in the rapidly developing field of PD-1-targeting cancer immunotherapy, delivered durable clinical benefits across multiple solid tumor types.

Adverse events associated with ipilimumab for the treatment of metastatic melanoma are better understood after further analysis of clinical trial data that led to the FDA's 2011 approval of the drug.

Nearly two decades after clinical trials began, the investigational immunotherapy Allovectin failed to meet key endpoints in a phase III trial in patients with stage III/IV metastatic melanoma and will no longer be developed.

The investigational antibody lambrolizumab demonstrated significant antitumor activity and good response rates as well as a tolerable toxicity profile in patients with melanoma.

Yvonne M. Saenger, MD, Assistant Professor in Medicine and Dermatology, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, discusses the need for biomarkers for immunotherapies.

Combination treatment with selumetinib and dacarbazine significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with BRAF-positive melanoma.

T-VEC manifested significant gains in durable response rate and other key clinical indicators in patients with advanced melanoma in what researchers described as the first phase III trial demonstrating the efficacy of an oncolytic virus immunotherapy.

Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, the director of the Tumor Immunology Program Area at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the efficacy of ipilimumab for the treatment of melanoma.

Richard D. Carvajal, MD, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the background of the investigation of selumetinib for advanced uveal melanoma.

Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, from the Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, discusses sequencing immunologic and targeted therapies in patients with advanced BRAF-mutated melanoma.

Sandra Swain, MD, medical director of the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, highlights information presented at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Meeting.

Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, Chief, Hematology Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, discusses the treatment of advanced melanoma.

Using an intermittent dosing strategy with vemurafenib, instead of continuous dosing, has the potential to overcome the development of resistance in patients with melanoma treated with the drug.

Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, from the Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, describes a single institution phase I/II trial exploring the anti-PD-1 antibody nivolumab in combination with a peptide vaccine for patients with unresectable melanoma.

Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD, from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses a phase I trial exploring the combination of the anti-PD-1 antibody nivolumab and ipilimumab, a CTLA-4 inhibitor, for patients with advanced melanoma.

Yvonne M. Saenger, MD, Assistant Professor in Medicine and Dermatology, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, discusses the idea of combining targeted and immune agents.

Robert Andtbacka, MD, from the Huntsman Cancer Institute, provides an overview of the phase III OPTiM trial that explored treatment with talimogene laherparepvecin patients with advanced melanoma.

Drugs currently approved by the FDA for treatment of melanoma include aldesleukin, dabrafenib, dacarbazine, ipilimumab, trametinib, and vemurafenib. This article will explore pharmacologic agents currently being investigated for the treatment of melanoma.

Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses preliminary results of an ongoing trial investigating the anti-PD-1 antibody lambrolizumab in patients with advanced melanoma.