ESMO 2016 | Safety and efficacy of increased ipilimumab dosage in metastatic melanoma

Paolo Ascierto, MD of the National Tumor Institute Fondazione G. Pascale, Naples, Italy gives an overview of the safety and efficacy of increased ipilimumab dosage in patients with metastatic melanoma (NCT01515189). He discusses a recent Phase III trial comparing the effect of ipilimumab at the current FDA-approved dose for advanced melanoma of 3 mg/kg with its effect at 10 mg/kg on overall survival (OS), which was presented at the European Society for Molecular Oncology (ESMO) 2016 Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. In a previous trial, ipilimumab at 10 mg/kg in combination with dacarbazine showed an improvement in overall survival (NCT00324155). While the higher dosage increased overall survival, a higher incidence of toxicity was also seen. Prof. Ascierto emphasizes the need to put the results of this trial in the context of the current melanoma treatment landscape, but highlights the potential of further investigating ipilimumab treatment at a higher dosage in refractory metastatic melanoma patients.