Almost half of the patients with advanced skin cancer who were treated with two immunotherapy drug were still alive six and a half years later.
Of the 49% who survived, 77% required no further treatment after receiving nivolumab plus ipilimumab, compared to 69% and 43% who received the drugs separately.
Experts say the results signify an important landmark, representing the longest median overall survival rate reported in a randomised controlled trial for advanced melanoma.
The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab has been available through the NHS as a first-line option for these patients since 2016.
"Immunotherapies are changing our survival expectations for difficult to treat cancers.”
However, Grade 3-4 treatment-related side events were reported in 59% of patients in the combination trial group, compared to 24% of patients in the nivolumab group, and 28% of patients in the ipilimumab group. Three is classed as severe while four is life-threatening.
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Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK, accounting for 4% of all new cancer cases and the vast majority of deaths caused by skin cancer.
Two and half times more people are dying from melanoma compared to the 1970s, with around 2,300 deaths every year – more than six per day.
Melanoma is considered advanced when it has spread from where it started to another part of the body.
Around 10% of melanoma cases are diagnosed at a late stage. Rates of skin cancer are highest in Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Denmark.
The nivolumab plus ipilimumab combination achieved a 6.5-year progression-free survival rate in 34% of patients.
“These latest results from this trial are very encouraging for patients with advanced melanoma, which was previously considered untreatable once it had spread,” said Professor James Larkin, lead investigator and Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
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“Nearly half of patients treated with this drug combination were alive at six-and-a-half years, and of these over three quarters were living treatment-free.
"Immunotherapies are changing our survival expectations for difficult to treat cancers.”
Hubert Bland, Executive Medical Director for Bristol Myers Squibb UK and Ireland said: “Today’s results confirm the progress made in our efforts for long-term survival benefits for patients diagnosed with advanced melanoma.”
The average time without any disease progression was 72.1 months with nivolumab plus ipilimumab compared to 36.9 months with nivolumab and 19.9 months with ipilimumab.
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