New combo immunotherapy offers promise for late-stage melanoma

Source: The John Hopkins News-Letter, April 2022

An immunotherapy study co-authored in The New England Journal of Medicine by a Hopkins physician offers promising results for those suffering from late-stage melanoma.

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration on March 18, the dual-drug treatment Opdualag can be partially traced back to pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb. Initial results of the study showed a median survival time without further progression of cancer at 10.1 months, while the drug nivolumab alone led to a median time of 4.6 months. 

Dr. Evan Lipson, associate professor of oncology at the School of Medicine, co-authored the study. In total the project encompassed 714 patients and universities in the U.S., Germany, Mexico and beyond. In an interview with The News-Letter, Lipson commented on the motivations behind the study that allowed for the global collaboration.

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