Frontline Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Combo Delivers Long-Term OS Advantage in Melanoma

Source: OncLive, December 2019

The combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) showed a sustained survival benefit compared with nivolumab or ipilimumab alone, according to 5-year follow-up results from the phase III CheckMate-067 trial presented at the 16th International Congress of the Society for Melanoma Research.¹

“The combination therapy continues to have numerically superior survival versus nivolumab alone,” said co-author Georgina V. Long, MBBS, PhD, co-medical director of Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA) and chair of Melanoma Medical Oncology and Translational Research at MIA and Royal North Shore Hospital. “It gives our patients the highest chance of being alive and treatment free, and demonstrates consistent activity across all patient groups.

Investigators published 5-year outcomes data in October 2019.² At a minimum follow-up of 60 months, the median overall survival (OS) was not reached (95% CI, 38.2–not reached) in the nivolumab/ipilimumab group arm, 36.9 months (95% CI, 28.3-58.7) in the nivolumab group, and 19.9 months (95% CI, 16.9-24.6) in the ipilimumab group (HR for nivolumab/ipilimumab vs ipilimumab, 0.52; HR for nivolumab/ipilimumab vs nivolumab, 0.83). Comparing the single-agent arms head-to-head, the hazard ratio for OS was 0.63 favoring nivolumab over ipilimumab.