SKIN CANCERS

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, David Polsky, MD, PhD, discussed the findings from this analysis in patients with&nbsp;<em>BRAF</em>-mutant, unresectable, metastatic melanoma. He highlighted the next steps necessary for validating these findings and potentially using ctDNA to help inform treatment decisions for patients with metastatic melanoma.

General Cancer

Alexander D. Guminski, MD, PhD, discusses the 12-month follow-up data from a phase II study investigating the role of cemiplimab as a treatment for patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Shlomo Koyfman, MD, the director of head and neck and skin cancer radiation at Cleveland Clinic, provides details about the current treatments for cSCC and how the new KEYNOTE-630 trial could improve practice for oncologists who treat cSCC.

The FDA has accepted 6 supplemental Biologics License Applications (sBLAs) for review for a potential update to the dosing schedule for pembrolizumab across several indications.

The ability to activate pattern recognition receptors, carry other genetic &ldquo;cargo&rdquo; to modify immunity, and induce lymphocyte infiltration into cancer is an appealing strategy accomplished by intralesional oncolytic viruses. Thus, the concept of combining these novel therapeutics in the preoperative setting to enhance in situ immunization and antitumor activity systemically, as well as to increase R0 complete resection, may be a useful approach to lead to cure, according to Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD.

Nikhil I. Khushalani, MD, discusses the rationale for combining nivolumab with bempegaldesleukin for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed, unresectable or metastatic melanoma in a randomized, open-label phase III trial.

Skin Cancer

Biomarker expansion has enjoyed a boom since 2006, with patient incidence of positive biomarkers reaching up to 50% in non&ndash;small cell lung cancer and melanoma and 25% in acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, according&nbsp; to the <em>Global Oncology Trends 2018</em> report.

Cemiplimab has been approved by the&nbsp;European Commission for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation.

Significant activity was observed when ibrutinib was administered concurrently with CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy compared with separately in patients with&nbsp;high-risk relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia who had progressed on or were intolerant of ibrutinib.&nbsp;Data presented at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma show a high response rate with this concurrent treatment.&nbsp;

The phase III IMspire170 trial failed to meet its primary endpoint according to topline results from the study. The combination of atezolizumab and cobimetinib did not improve progression-free survival compared with pembrolizumab in patients with previously untreated<em> BRAF&nbsp;</em>V600 wild-type melanoma.