MAPK Inhibitor Combo Produces 2-Year Overall Survival in Metastatic Melanoma
Source: Cancer Network, February 2016
A median overall survival of longer than 2 years was achieved in a group of patients with metastatic melanoma assigned to treatment with the combination of two MAPK inhibitors, dabrafenib and trametinib, according to the results of a study published recently in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. In fact, results showed that as many as one in five patients treated with the combination remained free of progression at 3 years.
“The combination has an acceptable long-term safety profile and is a standard of care for patients with BRAF mutation–positive metastatic melanoma, particularly given the recent publications demonstrating a significant improvement in the progression-free survival and overall survival in phase III trials of combination vs single-agent BRAF inhibitors,” wrote Georgina V. Long, MD, PhD, of the University of Sydney and Melanoma Institute Australia, and colleagues.
Long and colleagues conducted an analysis of data taken from a four-part phase I/II study that included combination treatment with dabrafenib and trametinib. The analysis included 78 patients with BRAF inhibitor-naive melanoma who were treated with dabrafenib 150 mg twice daily plus trametinib 2 mg daily from the non-randomly assigned part of the study (part B; n = 24) and the randomly assigned part of the study (part C; n = 54).