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Five-Year Survival with Combined Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Advanced Melanoma
James Larkin1, Vanna Chiarion-Sileni1, Rene Gonzalez1
1From the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London (J.L.), and the College of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea (J.W.) - both in the United Kingdom; the Oncology Institute of Veneto IRCCS, Padua (V.C.-S.), the European Institute of Oncology, IRCCS, Milan (P.F.F.), Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS Fondazione Pascale, Naples (P.A.A.), the Immunotherapy and Somatic Cell Therapy Unit, IRCCS Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Meldola (M.G.), and the Center for Immuno-Oncology, Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital, Siena (M.M.) - all in Italy; the University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora (R.G.); Aix-Marseille University, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille Hôpital Timone, Marseille (J.-J.G.), and Université de Paris, INSERM Unité 976, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris Dermatology and Centres d'Investigation Clinique, Saint Louis Hospital, Paris (C.L.) - both in France; the Maria Sklodowska-Curie Institute-Oncology Center, Warsaw, Poland (P.R.); the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (C.D.L.); Texas Oncology-Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center, Dallas (C.L.C.); the Department of Dermatology, University of Essen, Essen, and the German Cancer Consortium, Heidelberg - both in Germany (D.S.); Universitäts Spital, Zurich, Switzerland (R.D.); Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, AB (M.S.), and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto (D.H.) - both in Canada; Tasman Oncology Research, Southport, QLD (A.H.), the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre, Melanoma Institute Australia, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW (M.S.C., G.V.L.), and the Royal North Shore and Mater Hospitals (G.V.L.), Sydney, and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC (G.M.) - all in Australia; General University Hospital Gregorio Marañon and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Oncología, Madrid (I.M.-R.); the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (J.H.); the Leuven Cancer Institute, Department of General Medical Oncology, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (P.S.); University of California San Diego Health-La Jolla Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla (G.A.D.); the Department of Oncology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark (L.B.); Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ (J.I.R., A.B., A.M.); Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston (F.S.H.); and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College, New York (J.D.W.).
Background:
Nivolumab plus ipilimumab or nivolumab alone resulted in longer progression-free and overall survival than ipilimumab alone in a trial involving patients with advanced melanoma. We now report 5-year outcomes in the trial.
Methods:
We randomly assigned patients with previously untreated advanced melanoma to receive one of the following regimens: nivolumab (at a dose of 1 mg per kilogram of body weight) plus ipilimumab (3 mg per kilogram) every 3 weeks for four doses, followed by nivolumab (3 mg per kilogram every 2 weeks); nivolumab (3 mg per kilogram every 2 weeks) plus ipilimumab-matched placebo; or ipilimumab (3 mg per kilogram every 3 weeks for four doses) plus nivolumab-matched placebo. The two primary end points were progression-free survival and overall survival in the nivolumab-plus-ipilimumab group and in the nivolumab group, as compared with the ipilimumab group.
Results:
At a minimum follow-up of 60 months, the median overall survival was more than 60.0 months (median not reached) in the nivolumab-plus-ipilimumab group and 36.9 months in the nivolumab group, as compared with 19.9 months in the ipilimumab group (hazard ratio for death with nivolumab plus ipilimumab vs. ipilimumab, 0.52; hazard ratio for death with nivolumab vs. ipilimumab, 0.63). Overall survival at 5 years was 52% in the nivolumab-plus-ipilimumab group and 44% in the nivolumab group, as compared with 26% in the ipilimumab group. No sustained deterioration of health-related quality of life was observed during or after treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab or with nivolumab alone. No new late toxic effects were noted.
Conclusions:
Among patients with advanced melanoma, sustained long-term overall survival at 5 years was observed in a greater percentage of patients who received nivolumab plus ipilimumab or nivolumab alone than in those who received ipilimumab alone, with no apparent loss of quality of life in the patients who received regimens containing nivolumab. (Funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb and others; CheckMate 067 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01844505.).
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