Melanoma

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD,&nbsp;co-physician editor-in-chief of <em>Targeted Therapies in Oncology</em>, highlights&nbsp;a series of exciting results presented across various topics, which affect cancer research and treatment, during the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting.

Investigators across the globe have expended considerable effort attempting to identify mechanisms of response and resistance to ICIs. The general conclusion is that each patient&rsquo;s response to immunotherapy is likely complex and highly individualized.

Ryan J. Sullivan, MD, discusses the role of checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment landscape for patients with melanoma.

The FDA has granted tebentafusp (IMCgp100) a fast track designation for the treatment of patients with HLA-A*0201-positive previously untreated metastatic uveal melanoma, according to Immunocore Limited, the company developing the novel immunotherapy agent.

Entinostat in combination with pembrolizumab induced responses in patients with recurrent or metastatic melanoma who have progressed on or after prior anti&ndash;PD-1 therapy, according to results of a phase II trial.

According to new data, survivors of childhood cancer who have lived 5 or more years from their primary malignancy may be up to 30 times more likely to develop a skin malignancy compared with the general population.

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, Co-Physician Editor in Chief, <em>Targeted Therapies in Oncology</em>,<em>&nbsp;</em>discusses<em>&nbsp;</em>the<em>&nbsp;</em>evolving<em>&nbsp;</em>role of immunotherapy in melanoma and non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, where by it is now the dominant therapeutic approach in these diseases in progressively earlier lines of therapy.

In his presentation at the 2019 Annual Practical Recommendations in Immuno and Molecular Oncology Meetingi, Sanjiv S. Agarwala, MD, reviewed survival statistics of patients with melanoma being treated at different stages of their disease.

Consuming a diet rich in fiber could boost immunotherapy response in select patients with melanoma,&nbsp;according to early research findings.

Michael A. Postow, MD, shares advice to community oncologists on managing the side effects of immunotherapy in patients with melanoma.

The PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab has gained FDA approval as an adjuvant therapy for patients with&nbsp;high-risk stage III melanoma with lymph node involvement following complete resection.

More men than women are dying from malignant melanoma, according to findings presented at the National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference held in Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Genetic aberrations across cancer types were the driving force behind drug approvals in 2018.

Diwakar Davar, MBBS, MSc, discusses how data from the phase I trial of TSR-022, an anti-TIM-3 monoclonal antibody, and TSR-042, an anti-PD-1 agent, impact the treatment of patients with both melanoma and lung cancer.

Nikhil I. Khushalani, MD,&nbsp;discusses the role of adjuvant therapy in patients with melanoma across various subtypes, and also highlights melanoma trials ongoing at Moffitt Cancer Center.<br /> &nbsp;

Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, discussed the data in support of discontinuing treatment in melanoma and how to properly follow these patients after they go off treatment.<br /> &nbsp;

Robert Andtbacka, MD,&nbsp;discusses the current use of T-VEC in melanoma and future directions with this type of treatment.

Precision medicine has produced some dramatic successes in patients with advanced cancer. With developments in molecular profiling, targeted therapies are being applied to multiple tumors, most notably in advanced melanoma, NSCLC, and several types of leukemia. Alison Schram, MD, and David M. Hyman, MD, point out the challenges in determining the proportion of patients who will benefit from receiving targeted therapies.

Hussein A. Tawbi, MD, PhD, discusses why melanoma responds so well to immunotherapy.

Hussein A. Tawbi, MD,&nbsp;discusses the expansion of the treatment armamentarium for adjuvant melanoma and the next steps with research in this patient population.<br /> &nbsp;

After decades of being considered the &ldquo;graveyard of drug development,&rdquo; melanoma has now become one of the hottest fields in oncologic research. In response to this rapid change in the treatment landscape, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer has issued updated consensus guidelines to help clinicians stratify patients, choose optimal treatment regimens, and manage immune-related adverse events in patients with stage II to IV disease.

There has been a rapid expansion to the treatment landscape for adjuvant melanoma and there is no head-to-head comparative data for the challenge of selecting between immunotherapy and targeted therapy. When selecting a type of therapy, communicating relative merits and risks of both options to patients is necessary in making a shared decision, said&nbsp;Hussein Tawbi, MD, PhD.

Igor Puzanov, MD, MSCI, FACP, discusses the current and potential future utility of T-VEC in patients with advanced-stage melanoma.

In long-term follow-up results from the&nbsp;COMBI-AD trial, the relapse-free survival benefit with&nbsp;adjuvant dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) was confirmed in&nbsp;patients with resected stage III <em>BRAF</em>-mutant melanoma. The follow-up data were reported by Georgina Long, MBBS, PhD, during the 2018 ESMO Congress in Munich, Germany.

Hassane M. Zarour, MD,&nbsp;discussed the research surrounding manipulation of the gut microbiome to improve response to immunotherapy in melanoma and other tumor types.