Combination of drugs produces dramatic tumor responses in advanced melanoma patients

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/mscc-cod053113.php

Public release date: 2-Jun-2013
Contact: Caitlin Hool
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

CHICAGO, JUNE 2, 2013 — The combination of the immunotherapy drug ipilimumab and the investigational antibody drug nivolumab led to long-lasting tumor shrinkage in more than half of patients with metastatic melanoma, according to results from a Phase I trial simultaneously published online on Sunday, June 2, in The New England Journal of Medicine and presented by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center researchers at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Several patients experienced tumor shrinkage of more than 80 percent within 12 weeks of receiving the drugs, and the shrinkage was long lasting. Further, 40 percent of patients who received varying concurrent dosages had an objective response — meaning at least a 50 percent reduction in tumor size. Side effects from the drug combination were manageable and often reversible.

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owever, Dr. Wolchok notes that not all patients respond to immunotherapy and determining why some patients do not is becoming an extremely important part of advancing this field.

Because of the strong Phase I findings, researchers will begin testing the combination this June as a therapy for patients newly diagnosed with advanced melanoma in a randomized Phase III trial led by Memorial Sloan-Kettering and taking place at more than 150 institutions worldwide.