Dr. Andtbacka Discusses Combination Therapy in Melanoma

Robert Andtbacka, MD, associate professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery at the University of Utah School of Medicine, discusses combination therapy in melanoma.

For patients with advanced disease, such as those who develop lung and liver metastases, combination therapy has shown to provide more benefit than monotherapy, says Andtbacka. In a study of the combination of ipilimumab (Yervoy) and talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC; Imlygic) versus ipilimumab alone, there was almost a doubling in response rates for patients who were given the combination, according to Andtbacka. Additionally, there does not seem to be any added adverse events than what is typically seen with ipilimumab.

The combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and T-VEC elicited high response rates in patients with advanced melanoma in a small study. These data have set the stage for a larger study involving this combination, Andtbacka says.