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

Christian Blank, MD, PhD, Netherlands Cancer Institute, discusses 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. The results were presented at the 2016 Society for Melanoma Research (SMR) Annual Meeting.

In early findings from the trial, the overall response rate (ORR) was 80% with the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab. Additionally, 30% of patients treated with the neoadjuvant combination experienced a pathologic complete response (pCR).

Blank noted that he is interested in following up with these patients to see if they relapse. With the possible successful outcomes down the line, this combination may shift the landscape for how high-risk melanoma is treated.

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