Video

Dr. Kris on the Combination of Targeted Therapies

Dr. Mark Kris, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, on the Combination of Molecularly Targeted Therapies.

Mark G. Kris, MD, chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses a phase I/II trial examining the combination of two investigational targeted therapies for patients with BRAF-mutated melanoma.

Kris believes this trial showcases the changes taking place in cancer care, as a result of the molecular revolution. Traditionally, adding two therapies together was thought to also combine and increase the side effects. However, this trial demonstrated that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib actually resulted in fewer adverse events. More importantly, Kris feels, the secondary cancers that are common with BRAF inhibitors were also decreased.

Kris notes that these findings are the exact opposite of what has been observed in the past and calls for reeducation of what is now possible.

The combination trial was presented by Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and was one of many trials presented at the meeting that highlighted molecular advances. View Coverage From ASCO 2012.

Related Videos
Albert Grinshpun, MD, MSc, head, Breast Oncology Service, Shaare Zedek Medical Center
Erica L. Mayer, MD, MPH, director, clinical research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; associate professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School
Mariya Rozenblit, MD, assistant professor, medicine (medical oncology), Yale School of Medicine
Maxwell Lloyd, MD, clinical fellow, medicine, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Tracy George, MD
Elias Jabbour, MD
Bently P. Doonan, MD
Eytan M. Stein, MD
Azka Ali, MD, medical oncologist, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute
Hope S. Rugo, MD, FASCO, Winterhof Family Endowed Professor in Breast Cancer, professor, Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), director, Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education; medical director, Cancer Infusion Services; the University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center