First-of-its-kind clinical trial eliminates or shrinks melanoma tumors in 70% of patients

Medical Xpress / Stand Up To Cancer / Nature Communications ^ | July 11, 2024 | Tina J. Hieken et al

[ConservativeMind]

A clinical trial has shown that a new drug combination utilized before surgery completely eliminated or shrunk melanoma tumors in 70% of trial participants. The phase II clinical trial, NeoACTIVATE, enrolled patients with stage 3 melanoma.

"We saw that about two-thirds of the patients in one arm of the trial had no remaining tumor at all at the time of their surgery," said Matthew S. Block, M.D., Ph.D.

This was the first clinical trial to explore using the combination of targeted therapy and immunotherapy before surgery in patients with and without the type of melanoma that has a mutation in a specific gene called the BRAF gene. About one half of people with melanoma have the BRAF mutation.

The clinical trial included three arms. Arm A treated patients who had the BRAF mutation with a combination of drugs called vemurafenib, cobimetinib and atezolizumab before surgery. Arm B included patients without the BRAF mutation, who were treated before surgery with cobimetinib and atezolizumab. Both sets of patients then received atezolizumab after surgery.

Vemurafenib and cobimetinib are targeted therapies that fight cancer by blocking or turning off signals in specific types of cancer cells and may also enhance the immune response. Atezolizumab is an immunotherapy that triggers the body's immune system to help fight the cancer.

The trial results for arms A and B showed that nearly 67% of patients with the BRAF mutation had a complete "pathologic response"—meaning no cancer cells at all were found in their lymph nodes during surgery. Another 20% in this group had a partial response, meaning cancer cells were reduced. In the group with patients who did not have the BRAF mutation, about 33% had a complete or almost complete pathological response. Another 20% had a partial response.

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TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: cancer; melanoma; skincancer

[ConservativeMind]

67% of melanoma patients with the BRAF mutation were cured before their surgery. 33% of non-BRAF mutation melanoma patients were cured or had their cancer almost completely gone prior to surgery.

The three therapies are available today.

This is remarkable.

[ConservativeMind]

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[Delta 21]

This trial was melanoma. There’s a bunch of different cancers out there but if they can replicate it against a few more would be nice.

YES. This is a big deal.

[xenia]

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