Oncolytic virus boosts ipilimumab response in advanced melanoma

Source: Medwire News, October 2017

medwireNews: Combining the oncolytic virus talimogene laherparepvec with the immune checkpoint inhibitor ipilimumab significantly improves treatment response compared with ipilimumab alone in patients with advanced melanoma, phase II study data show.
The response to combined treatment occurred without additional safety concerns and was observed in patients with and without visceral disease, including in some uninjected lesions, Jason Chesney (University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA) and co-authors report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
They found that the 98 patients randomly assigned to receive treatment with talimogene laherparepvec plus ipilimumab had an objective response rate (ORR) of 39% during a median follow-up of 68 weeks. This was significantly higher than the ORR of 18% recorded among the 100 patients randomly assigned to use ipilimumab alone during a median 58 weeks of follow-up, and resulted in an odds ratio of 2.9 in favour of the combined treatment.