Phase II trial shows drug combination promising in advanced melanoma

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

Clinical trial shows simultaneous administration of ipilimumab and nivolumab produced better treatment response in patients with advanced melanoma who had received no prior treatment.

The phase II, double-blind trial enrolled 142 patients with advanced melanoma who had not received prior treatments. The patients were randomly assigned to receive ipilimumab plus nivolumab followed by nivolumab alone or ipilimumab plus placebo followed by placebo alone.

The ipilimumab-nivolumab combination produced an overall response rate of 60% in the 109 patients without BRAF mutations, including 17% complete response and 43% partial response rates.

The ipilimumab-placebo combination resulted in overall response rate of 11%, with no complete responses and 11% partial response rate.

Among the 33 patients with BRAF V600 mutations, overall response rate was 44%, including 17% complete response and 26% partial response rates.