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Anti-SEMA4D (pepinmab) and Ipilamab (yervoy)
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Anti-SEMA4D (pepinmab) and Ipilamab (yervoy)

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Anti-SEMA4D (pepinmab) and Ipilamab (yervoy)

  • Post
    • February 28, 2019 at 4:25 pm
    Lucygoose
    Participant

      Hi. I am recently diagnosed 3B with an unknown primary. ‘ Normal’ course of action is surgery and an anti PD 1 like nivolomab( optigo). 

       

      Ive been offered a clinical trial to do 2 doses of an Anti SEMA4D (pepinmab (sp?) and Yervoy over 6 weeks prior to surgery then 1 year of optivo  

      My scans currently show involvement of the one large lymph node.  

       

      Anyone had had similar treatment?  Can you share your experience? 

       

      Thank you. 

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    • Replies
        • February 28, 2019 at 5:11 pm
        Bubbles
        Participant

          This is early days for both neoadjuvant care (treatment before tumor removal) and Pepinemab, Lucy.  Perhaps there are those who have experience with Pepinemab (also called VX15, an anti-SEMA4D antibody produced by Vaccinex) and can respond.  Thus far it is in studies with folks with Huntington's disease as well as folks with solid tumors, non-small cell lung cancer (for which we already know anti-PD-1 products like nivolumab/opdivo can be helpful), and osteosarcoma.  Folks are hopeful that, when added to immuntherapy (like ipilimumab/Yervoy and nivolumab/opdivo) it will ramp up the body's immune response and make the effect greater.

          Here are some links that might interest you:

          Though both are from the company…so you have to consider that:  http://www.vaccinex.com/development-programs/vx15-immuno-oncology/  and https://www.apnews.com/5c7fe5964bb82ebf77449a009092dbcf  

          Hope this helps and perhaps others will chime in.  celeste

            • March 1, 2019 at 2:26 am
            Mark_DC
            Participant

              Dear Lucy, I am not an expert but some recent papers (i see them on twitter when i follow melanoma specialists) are coming out on the use of immunotherapy before surgery and reporting good results. I am not sure about the precise drugs you have in mind, and I think I would prefer this new drug plus nivo rather than plus ipi. But I would go for this approach – drugs before surgery and then nivo after surgery – rather than surgery and then nivo. I think the experts are arguing that if the tumour is still there then the drugs know what to go after; if you remove the tumour then the adjuvant nivo does not know what to target. I think that is the theory.

              I am doing this in an extreme form – taking immunotherapy for two years instead of having surgery. Because its a little difficult to remove and last time we removed then it came back again. But in the end I may have to go for surgery – I had some shrinkage on immunotherapy thanks to TVEC but it wont completely disappear.

              So I like the approach but cannot vouch for the magic VX15 or SEMAD you will be taking, but the rest seems to make sense.

              good luck Mark

            • March 1, 2019 at 1:41 pm
            Lucygoose
            Participant

              Thank you Mark and Celeste.  I am reading the links provided.  

              Sorry for all the misspellings in my original post.   I shouldn’t post from my phone!  I can’t type on a phone for anything. 

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