Nivolumab Continues to Improve Outcomes in Advanced Melanoma

Source: OncLive, January 2015

Anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab (Opdivo), will become the backbone of advanced melanoma treatment, predicts Victoria Atkinson, MD, of Princess Alexandra Hospital and Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation in Queensland, Australia.

“Chemotherapy does not have a role in advanced melanoma anymore. PD-1 antibodies, whether combined with BRAF or MEK inhibitors, or other therapies like vaccines or radiotherapy, are the future for the treatment of patients with this disease,” says Atkinson, the lead study author on the phase III CheckMate-066 trial.

The CheckMate-066 trial was the basis of the recent FDA expanded approval, which compared single-agent nivolumab with dacarbazine as a frontline treatment of patients with BRAF wild-type advanced melanoma.