Dr. Tara Gangadhar on Epacadostat/ Pembrolizumab Combination

Tara C. Mitchell, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, discuses preliminary results from a phase I/11 study of epacadostat in combination with pembrolizumab.

Epacadostat, an IDO inhibitor, and pembrolizumab, a PD-1 blockade, were tested in combination in patients with various advanced cancers to evaluate the safety of the drugs together.

To date, 56 patients with advanced cancers have been treated with the combination, including 20 patients with melanoma.

The combination of epacadostat and pembrolizumab was shown to be exceptionally well tolerated, says MItchell, with no treatment-related deaths or grade IV toxicity. Only six patients had grade III toxicities. The early data regarding efficacy was also promising, with a response rate of 53% in patients with melanoma, says Mitchell.