Endurance of Survival Benefit with Ipilimumab Therapy for Advanced Melanoma

Immune checkpoint therapies have exploded onto the cancer scene. Within the past few years, humanized anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD1 antibodies have gained FDA approval after phenomenal successes in prospective trials. But just how enduring are these benefits? These investigators examined the long-term effects of the very first FDA-approved immune checkpoint inhibitor ipilimumab.

They conducted a pooled analysis of overall survival (OS) data from 12 ipilimumab studies, including two phase III trials. Most of the 1861 patients received 3 mg or 10 mg/kg every 3 weeks up to four doses; 1257 had been previously treated. Median OS was 11.4 months (95% confidence interval, 10.7 to 12.1), but a proportion of patients experienced long-term survival, includ…