Nivolumab Combo Improves EFS in Stage III Melanoma
Source: Cancer Network, June 2024
Phase 3 findings show the benefit of immunotherapy before surgery in those with macroscopic stage III node-positive melanoma.
Event-free survival (EFS) was improved when combining neoadjuvant nivolumab (Opdivo) with ipilimumab (Yervoy) prior to therapeutic lymph node dissection (TLND) plus adjuvant therapy in patients with macroscopic stage III node-positive melanoma, according to data from the phase 3 NADINA study (NCT04949113) presented during the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
At the first interim analysis conducted after a median 9.9 months’ of follow-up, the estimated 12-month EFS rate with the neoadjuvant combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab plus response-drive adjuvant therapy was 83.7% compared with 57.2% for adjuvant therapy alone (HR, 0.32; 99.9% CI, 0.15-0.66; P < .0001). This benefit remained consistent across key subgroups and a correlation was seen between pathologic complete response rates and EFS.