ECCO 2017 | KEYNOTE-006: the efficacy of ipilimumab after pembrolizumab in patients with advanced melanoma

Georgina Long, MD, PhD, from the University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, discusses the efficacy of ipilimumab after pembrolizumab in patients with advanced melanoma in the KEYNOTE-006 trial (NCT01866319) at the European Cancer Congress of the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO) 2017 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This study found that patients who progress with pembrolizumab, and take ipilimumab as a second-line treatment, do just as well as those who take ipilimumab first-line. Serum LDH is an important prognostic factor in advanced melanoma. The study found that patients with a normal baseline serum LDH had better progression free survival than those who had slightly elevated and highly elevated serum LDH. Overall, pembrolizumab has been shown to produce a better overall survival and progression free survival in comparison to ipilimumab.