Dr. Flaherty on Resistance in BRAF-Mutant Melanoma

Keith T. Flaherty, MD, director of Developmental Therapeutics at the Cancer Center of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses resistance that develops in patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma.

Resistance to targeted therapies is inevitable, Flaherty explains, and is likely experienced in patients within 2 years. In a 2-year follow-up of the COMBI-d study, however, a large proportion of patients did not have disease progression and were doing well on therapy with the combination of dabrafenib (Tafinlar)/trametinib (Mekinist), he adds. Additionally, the 3-year data showed that there is a subgroup of patients with BRAF mutations with a less likely chance of resisting therapy.

These findings should lead to a new perception about drug resistance in the melanoma community, he explains.