Expert Shares Challenges, Considerations When Using Immunotherapies in Melanoma

Source: OncLive, March 2016

The field of melanoma recently gained an influx of immunotherapy approvals, and advancement in the field doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

When the FDA expanded the drug’s label in December 2015, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) became the first anti–PD-1 therapy approved for previously untreated patients with advanced melanoma, regardless of BRAF status.

In February 2016, the anti–PD-1 nivolumab (Opdivo) followed suit, receiving an expanded approval for the treatment of patients with melanoma who harbor BRAF V600 mutations.

The approval applies to both nivolumab as a single agent and in combination with ipilimumab (Yervoy). This is a combination that was first approved in patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma in October 2015.

While these approvals have significantly expanded treatment options, they also come with challenges, says Michael Postow, MD, a medical oncologist specializing in melanoma at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.