Nivolumab: another weapon in the growing immunotherapy arsenal
Mené sur 631 patients atteints d'un mélanome de stade avancé ayant progressé après un traitement par ipilimumab et, pour certains, par inhibiteur de BRAF, cet essai randomisé international de phase III évalue l'efficacité, du point de vue de la survie globale et du pourcentage de patients avec une réponse objective, et la toxicité du nivolumab
In The Lancet Oncology, Jeffrey Weber and colleagues report the first interim analysis of a randomised phase 3 trial comparing nivolumab with chemotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma whose disease had progressed after receiving previous treatment with the anti-CTLA-4 inhibitor ipilimumab, or ipilimumab and a BRAF inhibitor if they had a BRAFV600 mutation. Nivolumab is a fully human IgG4-blocking antibody against the T-cell PD-1 checkpoint protein. The PD-1 receptor negatively regulates T-cell effector mechanisms that restrict immune responses to cancer.