Melanoma (Issue 4)

Results from the phase II, double-blind CheckMate-069 clinical trial showed unprecedented response rates with ipilimumab combined with nivolumab in previously treated patients with metastatic melanoma.

Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, a senior member at Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses toxicities associated with immunotherapies for the treatment of patients with melanoma.

Ahmad Tarhini, MD, PhD, associate professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, compares two doses of ipilimumab (Yervoy).

A delay between the diagnosis of melanoma and needed surgery may evoke anxiety and psychological stress; although the impact on morbidity and mortality remains controversial.

Abnormal driver mutations contribute to tumor progression and have been prime targets for many therapeutic studies in oncology; however, researchers are focusing more and more on the less-studied passenger mutations and their role in tumor progression.

Despite the availability of several new agents in the past 5 years for the treatment of melanoma, patients with advanced melanoma still suffer poor prognoses.

Kevin B. Kim, MD, medical oncology, California Pacific Medical Center, discusses the outlook for T-VEC for the treatment of patients with melanoma.

Turning their experimental focus on the tumor microenvironment, the authors of a paper published in Clinical Cancer Research have shed light on the role of melanoma-associated tumor macrophages in resistance to BRAF V600E inhibitors.