Dabrafenib-trametinib combination confers durable survival benefit in BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma

Source: Healio, September 2019

About one-third of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAFV600E or BRAF V600K mutation who received first-line dabrafenib plus trametinib in two clinical trials achieved 5-year OS, according to results of a data analysis published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

“Historically, metastatic melanoma has been associated with a poor prognosis,” Caroline Robert, MD, PhD, head of the dermatology unit at Institut Gustave Roussy in France, and colleagues wrote. “The introduction of BRAF- and MEK-targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors has substantially improved outcomes in these patients. Each of these therapies — including drugs that target programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) with or without inhibitors of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) — has resulted in a durable survival benefit in a subgroup of patients.”

However, many patients develop resistance, either acquired or primary, which results in death due to the underlying disease, researchers noted.