New Discoveries and Honors in Cancer Research

Read the latest cancer research and recognition from the members of the Damon Runyon scientific circle.
June 2, 2014
Immunotherapy extends long-term survival of melanoma patients

Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘03-‘08) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues, reported the results of an ongoing clinical trial evaluating the safety and activity of combined immunotherapies for treatment of advanced melanoma. Nivolumab (anti-PD-1), an investigational PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, and ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4; Yervoy), were given either concurrently or sequentially to these patients. The two-year overall survival rate was 88%. Only several years ago, the two-year survival rate for metastatic melanoma may have been less than 10 percent. These results were reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and featured in The New York Times.