This was a great day for melanoma at ASCO. The highlight was a session, with several presentations, on PD1 drugs. The Merck PD1 drug, labrolizumab, had an overall response rate of 38%. In the best dosage of the trial, half of patients saw tumors shrink on this drug. Compare this to ipi, in which the response rate is less than 20%. Another researcher reported on combining the BMS PD1 drug, nivolumab, with ipilimumab. Response rates in the best arm were, again, over 50%. More than 40% of patients saw their tumors shrink by 80% or more.
This was a great day for melanoma at ASCO. The highlight was a session, with several presentations, on PD1 drugs. The Merck PD1 drug, labrolizumab, had an overall response rate of 38%. In the best dosage of the trial, half of patients saw tumors shrink on this drug. Compare this to ipi, in which the response rate is less than 20%. Another researcher reported on combining the BMS PD1 drug, nivolumab, with ipilimumab. Response rates in the best arm were, again, over 50%. More than 40% of patients saw their tumors shrink by 80% or more.
One of the challenges of using ipi has been that responses can take a long time to develop. This means that ipi is too slow for patients with aggressive tumors. In combination, however, the responses were much faster–most within 12 weeks. I can report that the feeling in the room was nothing short of giddiness. All the melanoma researchers were grinning ear to ear in hearing this news.
Both the Merck drug and the "novi"+ "ipi" combo will be used in larger trials, with a good number of slots available. Based on the data, however, a lot of researchers feel that the FDA should approve these drugs with little or no additional research.
Another session reported on brain metastases. Perhaps the best information is that BRAF inhibitors have an impact on brain mets for patients wtih BRAF mutation in their tumor.
A lot of good news for the fight against melanoma, and hopefully more to come in the future.
Tim–MRF
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