Treating patients first with immunotherapy and then with target therapy has proven to be the best strategy for healing from metastatic melanoma.
The news comes from the Esmo Congress (European Society of Oncology), where the latest data from the Secombit study coordinated by Paolo Ascierto, director of the Department of Melanoma and Immunotherapy of the Pascale Cancer Institute in Naples, were presented.
Four years after its first trial, the study demonstrates that it achieves the best overall survival of 63% and a disease-free survival of 55%.
"The Secombit study - says Ascierto - aims to identify the right sequence of therapies in people with metastatic melanoma who have the BRAF gene mutation.
The trial experiments with three options to find the best sequence.
The first is the combination of target therapies to continue with the combination of two immuno-oncological molecules, nivolumab and ipilimumab, after disease progression.
The second option is dual immunotherapy to continue with the combination of target therapy after progression.
Finally, the so-called 'sandwitch arm', ie the sequence of target therapies and the combination of the two immunotherapies and, only in case of progression, the continuation with target therapies ".
"The second option - explains Ascierto -, which involves starting with the combination of immunotherapies, makes it possible to achieve the best overall survival at 4 years, equal to 63%, compared to starting with the target therapy (46%) or with the third option (59%). Preliminary data indicate an overall progression-free survival of 55% starting with the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab compared to 29% with molecularly targeted therapy and 54% with the third option. choice of immunotherapy before target therapy is therefore supported by these data ".
209 people from 30 centers in 10 European countries were enrolled for the study.
Pascale involved 40 patients.