Dr. Postow on Combination Regimens for High-Risk Melanoma

Michael A. Postow, MD, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses combinations of regimens for patients with high-risk melanoma.

There was the first data regarding the BRAF and MEK inhibitors, dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and tremetinib (Mekinst), against observation in the COMBI-AD study. There are also randomized data for adjuvant nivolumab (Opdivo) versus adjuvant ipilimumab (Yervoy) in the CheckMate-238 study.

These data were highly anticipated since these regimens are effective for stage IV or unresectable stage III patients with melanoma, but this is the first time that researchers are seeing definitive data about the efficacy of these drugs in patients who have had surgically resected high-risk melanoma, explains Postow.