Immunotherapy Combinations Coming to the Forefront in Melanoma

Source: OncLive, April 2016

PD-1/PD-L1 should be the backbone of melanoma treatment for many patients, says Jason Luke, MD, an assistant professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago Medicine.

“PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition has now become the foundation of therapy in melanoma and, eventually, it will likely be in all of cancer," he says. “Adding PD-1 to almost anything is likely to make it better.”

Luke believes that, in the near future, most patients will receive immunotherapy combination regimens. However, he adds that a lot of questions need to be answered first.

In an interview with OncLive, Luke explains that, in order for immunotherapy combinations to make it to prime time, T-cell inflammation will need to be more considered when selecting treatments.

He also discusses why adjustments to the FDA approved immunotherapy combination of ipilimumab (Yervoy) and nivolumab (Opdivo) are needed, and why finding a tolerable and effective BRAF-targeted/immunotherapy combination is challenging—but significant.