SMR Congress | Conference

SD-101, Pembrolizumab Combo Well-Tolerated in Early-Stage Melanoma

November 10th 2016

Results from a safety, tolerability, and dose escalation phase Ib/II study involving intratumoral SD-101 and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) have demonstrated that the combination was well-tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities.

Perioperative Dabrafenib/Trametinib Improves RFS in Stage III Melanoma

November 10th 2016

Treatment with the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib before and after surgery demonstrated a dramatic improvement in relapse-free survival compared with the standard of care for patients with stage IIIb/c or oligometastatic BRAF-mutant melanoma.

Dr. Keith Flaherty Discusses Long-Term Data from the COLUMBUS Trial

November 10th 2016

Keith T. Flaherty, MD, director of the Termeer Center for Targeted Therapy, Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses the results from the COLUMBUS trial, testing encorafenib plus binimetinib compared to vemurafenib or encorafenib as single agents.

Bin Zheng on the Potential of Diabetes Drugs in Melanoma

November 10th 2016

Bin Zheng, PhD, assistant professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and assistant biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the potential for phenformin, a drug created for Type 2 diabetes, to be used for patients with melanoma.

Encorafenib/Binimetinib Highly Effective in BRAF-mutant Melanoma

November 9th 2016

The combination of the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib and the MEK inhibitor binimetinib reduced the risk of progression or death by 46% compared with vemurafenib (Zelboraf) for patients with BRAF-mutant unresectable melanoma.

Nilotinib/Trametinib Show Early Promise in BRAF/NRAS Wild-Type Melanoma

November 9th 2016

The combination of nilotinib and trametinib proved to be synergistic in BRAF/NRAS wild-type melanoma.

Dabrafenib/Trametinib OS Duration Associated With Number of Metastatic Melanoma Sites

November 9th 2016

The combination of dabrafenib and trametinib continued to demonstrate durable efficacy for patients with BRAF V600E/K-mutant melanoma across patient subgroups in a 3-year analysis of the phase III COMBI-d study, with baseline site of metastasis identified as a predictor of overall survival ≥36 months,

Graham Mann on Genetic Mutations in Different Types of Melanoma

November 9th 2016

Graham Mann, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, professor of Medicine, Westmead Clinical School and co-director of the Centre for Cancer Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research at the University of Sydney in Australia, discusses his findings from the Australian Melanoma Genome Project, which were presented at the 2016 Society for Melanoma Research (SMR) Congress.

Stefani Spranger Explores the Absence of T Cells in Melanoma Subtypes

November 9th 2016

Stefani Spranger, PhD, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago, discusses recent findings about why a certain subgroup of patients with melanoma do not have T cells within their tumor microenvironment.

Expert Highlights Resistance to Targeted Therapies, Role of Epigenetic Changes in Melanoma

November 8th 2016

Helmut Schiader, MD, discusses why drug resistance may be due to epigenetic changes and not mutation-induced changes, as well as the role of immunotherapy/targeted therapy combinations in combating resistance.

Immunotherapy, MEK Inhibitor Combo Effective for BRAF Wild-Type Melanoma

November 8th 2016

The combination of atezolizumab and cobimetinib may lead to a higher overall response and a longer progression-free survival than either agent alone in patients with metastatic melanoma.

Dr. Christian Blank on Combining Immunotherapy Agents in High-Risk Melanoma

November 8th 2016

Christian Blank, MD, PhD, Netherlands Cancer Institute, discusses some of the early findings from the OpACIN trial testing a combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant setting for patients with stage III melanoma.

Neoadjuvant Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Shows Early Promise for Stage III Melanoma

November 8th 2016

Neoadjuvant therapy with the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab is plausible and effective but can induce a high level of adverse events calling for further research into better tolerated dosing schemes.

Dr. Ryan Sullivan on Treating BRAF-Mutant Patients With Melanoma

November 8th 2016

Ryan Sullivan, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses how best to treat patients with melanoma who have the BRAF mutation.

Atezolizumab Combos Highly Effective for Advanced Melanoma

November 7th 2016

The addition of the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab to the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib and the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib induced a high response rate for patients with BRAF-mutant unresectable melanoma.

Dr. Schadendorf on Nivolumab/ Ipilimumab Combination Trial in Melanoma

November 27th 2015

Dirk Schadendorf, MD, Head of Department for Dermatology, Venerology und Allergology, University Hospital Essen, Germany, discusses the results from the phase III CheckMate 067 study, which looked at a combination immunotherapy regimen in advanced melanoma.

Vemurafenib/Cobimetinib Shows 30% OS Benefit in BRAF-Mutant Melanoma

November 22nd 2015

Treatment with the combination of vemurafenib and cobimetinib improved overall survival by 4.9 months compared with vemurafenib alone for patients with BRAF mutation-positive advanced melanoma.

Pembrolizumab/Ipilimumab Combo Effective in Advanced Melanoma

November 22nd 2015

A treatment regimen of pembrolizumab plus low-dose ipilimumab was tolerable and effective for patients with advanced melanoma.

Factors Affecting Dabrafenib/Trametinib Outcomes in Melanoma Identified

November 22nd 2015

In the largest-to-date analysis of treatment-naÃ¯ve metastatic melanoma patients with BRAF V600 mutations treated with dabrafenib and trametinib, researchers have found that baseline LDH levels and number of disease sites were the most significant factors affecting survival.

Novel Pembrolizumab Combos Show Promising Responses in Melanoma

November 21st 2015

Two separate early phase clinical trials exploring pembrolizumab-containing immunotherapy combinations have shown objective response rates over 50% in patients with advanced melanoma.