Immunotherapy Shows Potential in Rare Melanoma Subtype

Source: OncLive, February 2016

Few studies have investigated mucosal melanoma, a rare and aggressive subtype of melanoma. As a result, oncologists often base treatment choices on cutaneous melanoma data.

The use of nivolumab (Opdivo) was recently investigated in patients with mucosal melanoma based on a pooled analysis of 889 patients, 10% (86) of whom had mucosal melanoma.

At a median follow-up of 9.2 months (0.3-62.5), median progression-free survival (PFS) was 3.0 months (95% CI, 2.2-5.4) for patients with mucosal melanoma and 5.1 months (95% CI, 3.9-6.1) for all treated patients. The objective response rate (ORR) was 23.3% (95% CI, 14.8-33.6) for patients with mucosal melanoma and 35.9% (95% CI, 32.7-39.1) for all treated patients, with complete responses in 6% of patients in both cohorts.

Median duration of response was not reached for patients with mucosal melanoma and was 22.0 months (95% CI, 22.0-NR) for all treated patients.
This data marks the first analysis of nivolumab in this subtype and is significant for oncologists treating patients with the disease, says Richard Joseph, MD, a medical oncologist at Mayo Clinic.