Top 5 melanoma developments in 2015 in dermatology

Study results finding that higher coffee consumption was tied to decreased melanoma risk was 2015’s most-read article in Healio.com/Dermatology related to melanoma.

Other widely read articles included FDA advisory committee action on talimogene laherparepvec and trial results of combined Tafinlar and Mekinist in treating metastatic melanoma:

Higher coffee consumption shows ties to decreased melanoma risk

People who consumed at least four cups of caffeinated coffee per day had a lower risk of malignant melanoma, according to recently published study results.

Erikka Loftfield

Erikka Loftfield, MPH, and colleagues conducted a National Institutes for Health- American Association of Retired Persons prospective study by assessing coffee intake in a self-administered, 124-item food frequency questionnaire. Read more

FDA advisory committees to review talimogene laherparepvec for metastatic melanoma treatment

Amgen announced in February that the FDA’s Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee and Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee will jointly review the company’s biologics license application for talimogene laherparepvec for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma.

The committees were to review talimogene laherparepvec, an investigational oncolytic immunotherapy designed to selectively replicate in tumors and initiate an immune response to metastasized cancer cells, on April 29. Read more

GSK announces positive results for combined Tafinlar, Mekinist treatment for metastatic melanoma

GlaxoSmithKline announced overall survival results from a phase 3 study that demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the risk of death with a combination of Tafinlar and Mekinist compared with Tafinlar monotherapy in patients with BRAF V600E/K mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

The combination of Tafinlar (dabrafenib), a BRAF inhibitor, and Mekinist (trametinib), an MEK inhibitor, had a hazard ratio of 0.71 compared with dabrafenib monotherapy for reduction in risk of death, according to a press release. Read more

Provectus to study novel drug combined with Keytruda for stage IV melanoma

Provectus Biopharmaceuticals announced in a press release that it has completed protocol for a phase1b/2 testing of its investigational drug PV-10 in combination with Keytruda in patients with stage IV melanoma.

PV-10 is novel drug that is injected into solid tumors and is undergoing phase 3 testing for patients with stage III melanoma, according to the release. Read more

Multiple primary melanomas most likely in first year after initial melanoma diagnosis

The risk for multiple primary melanomas was greatest in the first year after initial melanoma diagnosis, with patients who were older, male, white and partnered being at higher risk, according to recently published study results.

Researchers estimated multiple primary melanoma incidence among 16,570 Kaiser Permanente Northern California members diagnosed with melanoma between 1996 and 2011. Read more