Melanoma & Skin Cancer | Specialty

The OncLive Melanoma & Skin Cancer condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and expert insights on various types of skin cancers, including melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and more. This section features news articles, interviews in written and video format, and podcasts that focus on unmet needs, treatment advances, and ongoing research in melanoma and other skin cancers.

Survival Gain With Higher Ipilimumab Dose Offers Opportunity for Some Melanoma Patients

April 11th 2017

Patients with stage III or IV melanoma assigned to 10 mg/kg ipilimumab (Yervoy) lived longer than patients assigned to a lower dose of the anti-CTLA-4 anticlonal antibody, but at the cost of greater toxicity.

Dr. Wolchok on Weighing Risk and Benefit of Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Combo in Melanoma

April 5th 2017

Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD, chief, Melanoma and Immunotherapeutics Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses weighing the overall survival (OS) benefit with the increased risk of toxicities seen with the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) in treatment-naïve patients with advanced melanoma.

IDO Inhibitor Increases Pembrolizumab Response in Melanoma

April 4th 2017

Adding the IDO inhibitor indoximod to pembrolizumab led to an overall response rate of 52% in patients with advanced melanoma, according to findings from a phase II trial reported at the 2017 AACR Annual Meeting.

Adding Coxsackievirus to Ipilimumab Displays Durable Antitumor Activity in Advanced Melanoma

April 4th 2017

Adding a formulation of the Coxsackievirus A21 (CAVATAK®) to ipilimumab (Yervoy) yielded an overall response rate of 50% and was well-tolerated in immunotherapy-naïve and pretreated patients with advanced melanoma.

Novel RAF Inhibitor Active Across Multiple Tumor Types

April 4th 2017

Treatment with the RAF dimer inhibitor BGB-283 led to clinical benefit for patients with BRAF V600-mutated melanoma, papillary thyroid cancer, and ovarian cancer.

Dr. Luke Discusses the Controversy Surrounding Ipilimumab/Nivolumab Combo in Melanoma

April 3rd 2017

Jason J. Luke, MD, assistant professor of Medicine, The University of Chicago Medicine, discusses the controversy surrounding the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) in treatment-naïve patients with advanced melanoma, which was explored in the CheckMate-067 trial, during the AACR Annual Meeting.

Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Combo Shows Modest OS Benefit in Advanced Melanoma in Updated Phase III Findings

April 3rd 2017

The PD-1 and CTLA-4 inhibitor combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) was associated with a 12% reduction in the risk of death versus nivolumab monotherapy in patients with treatment-naïve advanced melanoma.

Avelumab Further Demonstrates Durable Responses in Merkel Cell Carcinoma

April 3rd 2017

Treatment with the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab induced an objective response rate of 33% in patients with advanced Merkel cell carcinoma in the phase II JAVELIN Merkel 200 study, including 2 additional complete responses since the primary analysis.

Dr. Turaga on Surgery Versus Immunotherapy in Melanoma

March 30th 2017

Kiran K. Turaga, MD, associate professor of surgery, vice chief, section of general surgery and surgical oncology, director of the Surgical GI Cancer Program and the Regional Therapeutics Program at The University of Chicago Medicine, discusses whether patients vie for immunotherapy versus surgery as treatment for their melanoma.

Dr. Shea on Dermatological Management in Melanoma

March 29th 2017

Christopher R. Shea, MD, the Eugene J. Van Scott Professor of Medicine, chief of the Section of Dermatology at The University of Chicago Medicine, discusses the dermatological management of melanoma.

Dr. Gajewski on Targets Being Explored in Melanoma

March 28th 2017

Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at The University of Chicago Medicine, discusses what targets are currently being explored in patients with melanoma.

PD-1 and IDO Inhibitor Combo Slated to Change Practice in Melanoma

March 23rd 2017

Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD, discusses how the combination of PD-1 and IDO inhibitors could change the standard of care for patients with melanoma, and highlights other emerging targets on the horizon.

Amid Explosion of Novel Agents, Surgery Remains Critical in Melanoma

March 22nd 2017

Kiran K. Turaga, MD, discusses advances in surgical approaches for the treatment of patients with melanoma.

Expert Anticipates Exciting Advances in Adjuvant Melanoma

March 21st 2017

Jason J. Luke, MD, discusses adjuvant therapy for patients with melanoma, as well as the future of targeted agents and immunotherapy.

Melanoma Knowledge Starts With Dermatologists, Expert Says

March 21st 2017

Christopher R. Shea, MD, expresses the importance of expanding melanoma knowledge to more specialists as well as the advancements in pathology over the last several years.

Dr. Luke on Adjuvant Therapies in Development for Melanoma

March 20th 2017

Jason J. Luke, MD, assistant professor of Medicine, The University of Chicago Medicine, discusses some of the ongoing adjuvant therapies in development for patients with melanoma. Luke shared this insight during the 2017 OncLive State of the Science Summit on Melanoma and Immuno-Oncology.

Binimetinib Application for NRAS-Mutant Melanoma Withdrawn

March 20th 2017

Array BioPharma has withdrawn its new drug application for binimetinib as a treatment for patients with NRAS-mutant advanced melanoma, based on feedback from the FDA during a preplanned review meeting.

Innovative Immunotherapy Combo Tests IDO Inhibitor in Melanoma Trial

March 20th 2017

Investigators are looking into a novel immunotherapy combination that pairs the first-in-class IDO1 inhibitor epacadostat (INCB024360) with the checkpoint blockade agent pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

Combos Mark Next Step in Melanoma Immunotherapy

February 27th 2017

Evidence continues to build for the long-term efficacy of PD-1-targeting immunotherapies in melanoma, including fresh data indicating when patients can stop taking the drugs and still maintain a response.

Focus on Cancer Prevention Would Moderate Spiraling Costs of Care

February 24th 2017

Certain components of the cancer care continuum have the potential to favorably impact the rapidly encroaching crisis in cancer care costs at the societal level.