Dr. Tarhini Discusses Adjuvant Therapy for Melanoma

Video

In Partnership With:

Ahmad Tarhini, MD, PhD, director, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program, Center for Immuno-Oncology Research, Cleveland Clinic, discusses adjuvant therapy for patients with melanoma.

Ahmad Tarhini, MD, PhD, director, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program, Center for Immuno-Oncology Research, Cleveland Clinic, discusses adjuvant therapy for patients with melanoma.

Adjuvant therapy for melanoma is used in patients who are considered high risk for relapse or death, says Tarhini. For these patients, there is an indication to administer systemic treatment, which historically has been with interferon alpha. In 2015, ipilimumab (Yervoy) was approved for the adjuvant treatment of patients with melanoma. In April 2018, the FDA approved the combination of dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with BRAF V600E— or V600K–positive stage III melanoma following complete resection.

The problem with the currently available adjuvant treatment options have been the toxicity profiles, says Tarhini. Specifically, the cumbersomeness of interferon can negatively affect quality of life. Due to the toxicities, the survival advantage of interferon has been taken into question. In a recent analysis, Tarhini says that only a minority of patients will go onto receive adjuvant therapy after lymph node surgery—either with interferon or ipilimumab.

Related Videos
Christian Marth, MD, PhD, head, professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Innsbruck Medical University
Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, chief oncologist, Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital
Vijayakrishna Gadi, MD, PhD, and Megan Kruse, MD
Judy Hayek, MD, gynecologic oncology fellow, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate College of Medicine
Leslie M. Randall, MD, MAS, professor, division head, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology – Gynecologic Oncology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dimitrios Nasioudis, MD, fellow, Gynecologic Oncology, Perelman School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania
Sara Corvigno, MD, PhD, translational researcher, oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
I-Chia (Daniel) Liu, MD
Robert W. Mutter, MD