Melanoma/skin cancer 2022: ‘Transformative’ advances and new insights into adverse events
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Several novel treatment regimens for melanoma/skin cancer emerged during the past year.
These include a cell therapy that induced response in one-third of patients with advanced unresectable or metastatic melanoma, as well as a neoadjuvant therapy that induced response in more than half of patients with resectable cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.
Other research provided new insights into the potential for major adverse cardiac events after immune checkpoint inhibitor-based therapy.
Healio shares the following developments in melanoma/skin cancer research and treatment from the past year that may be relevant to your practice.
1. A single dose of lifileucel (LN-144, Iovance Biotherapeutics) conferred an objective response in nearly one-third of patients with advanced unresectable or metastatic melanoma. FDA approval could translate to thousands of lives saved each year, investigators concluded. Read more.
2. More than half of patients with locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma achieved objective response to first-line nivolumab (Opdivo, Bristol Myers Squibb). Read more.
3. Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) extended EFS compared with adjuvant-only administration of the anti-PD-1 therapy among patients with resectable melanoma. Read more.
4. A single infusion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes more than doubled PFS, OS and complete response rates compared with ipilimumab (Yervoy, Bristol Myers Squibb) among patients with advanced, unresectable melanoma. Read more.
5. Neoadjuvant cemiplimab (Libtayo; Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi) induced a pathologic complete response among a majority of patients with resectable cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. The 63.3% rate of pathologic complete or major pathologic response is the highest achieved in a multicenter study of single-agent anti-PD-1 neoadjuvant therapy for any solid tumor type. Read more.
6. Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy appeared associated with an increased risk for major adverse cardiovascular events among patients with cancer and a prior history of cardiovascular disease. Read more.
7. Adjuvant pembrolizumab significantly improved distant metastasis-free survival among patients with resected stage IIB or IIC melanoma. The anti-PD-1 antibody also demonstrated a sustained RFS benefit. Read more.
8. Patients and prescribers should be more aware of the potential for major adverse cardiac events after immune checkpoint inhibitor-based therapy. Read more.
9. The FDA approved relatlimab-rmbw (Opdualag, Bristol Myers Squibb) in combination with nivolumab (Opdivo, Bristol Myers Squibb) for treatment of patients aged 12 years or older with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. Read more.
10. The FDA approved tebentafusp-tebn (Kimmtrak, Immunocore) for the treatment of adults with HLA-A*02:01-positive unresectable or metastatic uveal melanoma. The agent — the only therapy approved for this indication — became the first T-cell receptor therapeutic to receive regulatory approval. Read more.
11. Cutaneous adverse events among patients with metastatic melanoma treated with combination checkpoint inhibitors appeared largely reversible and rarely led to therapy discontinuation. Read more.
12. A high-fiber diet appeared associated with longer PFS among patients with melanoma who started treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Researchers observed the most pronounced benefit among patients who did not take commercially available probiotic supplements. Read more.
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