World Congress on Melanoma

Research into combination approaches now focuses on using three anti–PD-1 therapies and new checkpoints, such as IDO.

The combination of the immunotherapies Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy (ipilimumab) sparked a response in nearly half of asymptomatic patients with melanoma brain metastases who had not received prior local therapy to the brain.

The longest response rate lasted six months.

Although chemotherapy has been used to treat patients with Merkel cell carcinoma, immunotherapy agents show great promise, according to findings presented at the 2017 World Congress of Melanoma.

Maria T. Landi, M.D., Ph.D., principal investigator at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) discusses a recent study that identified genetic variations that may be linked with increased melanoma risk.

Intralesional therapies – those delivered directly to the tumor site – used in conjunction with checkpoint inhibitors have shown improvements to the treatment of people with melanoma, says Robert Andtbacka, M.D., in a presentation at the 2017 World Congress of Melanoma.