Dr. Shoushtari on the Rationale for the CheckMate-067 Trial in Advanced Melanoma

Alexander N. Shoushtari, MD, an assistant attending physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the rationale for the ​phase 3 CheckMate-067 trial in advanced melanoma.

​The ​landmark CheckMate-067 trial ​randomized patients with previously untreated, advanced melanoma 1:1:1 to receive nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) followed by nivolumab, nivolumab plus ipilimumab-matched placebo, or ipilimumab plus nivolumab-matched placebo.

During the time of the study, ipilimumab ​monotherapy was considered the standard of care​, says Shoushtari. ​However, nivolumab and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) ​have since become new standards in the space.

As such, the ​study evaluated whether the addition of ipilimumab to nivolumab was superior to nivolumab alone, Shoushtari concludes.