Dr. Schuchter Discusses Nivolumab in Melanoma

Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, Chief, Hematology Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, describes two trials presented at the 2013 ASCO Meeting looking at nivolumab in patients with melanoma.

Updated phase I data showed a 31% response rate in patients with melanoma treated with nivolumab. These responses were sustained, Schuchter says, with almost half of the patients still alive at two years.

Even more exciting was the data on nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab. The combination of two targeted therapies both aimed at the CTLA-4 pathway showed a response rate as high as 70% with manageable toxicity.