Long-term efficacy and safety of sonidegib in patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma: 42-month analysis of the phase II randomized, double-blind BOLT study.

Background: Basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) exhibit aberrant activation of the hedgehog pathway. Sonidegib is a hedgehog pathway inhibitor approved for the treatment of locally advanced BCC (laBCC) and metastatic BCC (mBCC) based on primary results of the BOLT study [Basal Cell Carcinoma Outcomes with LDE225 (sonidegib) Treatment].

Objectives: This is the final 42-month analysis of the BOLT study, evaluating the efficacy and safety of sonidegib.

A phase II study of the L19IL2 immunocytokine in combination with dacarbazine in advanced metastatic melanoma patients.

Engineered cytokine products represent promising agents for the treatment of immunogenic tumors, such as malignant melanoma, in addition to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Here we describe the results of a controlled, randomized phase II clinical trial, aimed at assessing the therapeutic potential of L19IL2, a fully human fusion protein consisting of the L19 antibody specific to the alternatively spliced extra-domain B of fibronectin, fused to human interleukin-2 in advanced metastatic melanoma. In one arm, patients received dacarbazine (DTIC; 1000 mg/m of body surface on day 1 of 21-day cycles) as single agent, while in two other arms L19IL2 (22.

Chemosensitivity-directed therapy compared to dacarbazine in chemo-naive advanced metastatic melanoma: a multicenter randomized phase-3 DeCOG trial.

Chemotherapy still plays an important role in metastatic melanoma, particularly for patients who are not suitable or have no access to highly efficacious new therapies. Pre-therapeutic chemosensitivity testing might be useful to identify optimal chemotherapy regimens for individual patients. This multicenter randomized phase-3 trial was aimed to test for superiority of chemosensitivity-directed combination chemotherapy compared to standard dacarbazine monochemotherapy, and to demonstrate the chemosensitivity test result as prognostic in metastatic melanoma.

Long-term efficacy and safety of sonidegib in patients with locally advanced and metastatic basal cell carcinoma: 30-month analysis of the randomized phase 2 BOLT study.

Background: Patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (laBCC) or metastatic BCC (mBCC), two difficult-to-treat populations, have had limited treatment options. Sonidegib, a hedgehog pathway inhibitor (HPI), was approved in laBCC based on results from the BOLT trial.

Objective: To evaluate long-term efficacy and safety of sonidegib in laBCC and mBCC in the BOLT 18- and 30-month analyses.

The 12-month analysis from Basal Cell Carcinoma Outcomes with LDE225 Treatment (BOLT): A phase II, randomized, double-blind study of sonidegib in patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma.

Background: The hedgehog pathway inhibitor sonidegib demonstrated meaningful tumor shrinkage in more than 90% of patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or metastatic BCC in the BCC Outcomes with LDE225 Treatment study.

Objective: This report provides long-term follow-up data collected up to 12 months after the last patient was randomized.

Methods: In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind phase II study, patients were randomized 1:2 to sonidegib 200 or 800 mg.

Intermittent High-Dose Intravenous Interferon Alfa-2b for Adjuvant Treatment of Stage III Melanoma: Final Analysis of a Randomized Phase III Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group Trial.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and quality of life (QoL) in patients receiving intravenous, intermittent high-dose interferon alfa-2b (IFN-α-2b [iHDI]) compared with standard high-dose IFN-α-2b (HDI).

Patient And Methods: Patients with stage III resected lymph node or in-transit metastasis from cutaneous malignant melanoma were randomly assigned to receive either a standard HDI regimen or three courses of IFN-α-2b 20 MIU/m(2) administered intravenously 5 days a week for 4 weeks then repeated every 4 months. Distant metastasis-free survival was the primary end point for efficacy analysis.

Treatment with two different doses of sonidegib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinoma (BOLT): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind phase 2 trial.

Background: Patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma have limited treatment options. Hedgehog pathway signalling is aberrantly activated in around 95% of tumours. We assessed the antitumour activity of sonidegib, a Hedgehog signalling inhibitor, in patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma.

Treatment of unresectable stage IV metastatic melanoma with aviscumine after anti-neoplastic treatment failure: a phase II, multi-centre study.

Background: Aviscumine, a recombinant plant protein, is an immune modulator that induces ribotoxic stress at the 28S ribosomal RNA subunit. In this way cytokine release and T-cell responses are enhanced. This phase II trial was conducted to test the efficacy and safety of aviscumine in patients with systemically pre-treated metastatic melanoma stage IV.

Remission of an intracardiac melanoma metastasis after tremelimumab therapy.

Tremelimumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody specific for human cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4. Administration of tremelimumab to patients with locally advanced and metastatic melanoma has resulted in a subset of patients with durable objective tumour regressions. Our echocardiographic images impressively show the effects of this new antibody in a patient with cardiac metastatic malignant melanoma.

Differential influence of vemurafenib and dabrafenib on patients' lymphocytes despite similar clinical efficacy in melanoma.

Background: Since the majority of melanomas eventually become resistant and progress, combining selective BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi) with immunotherapies has been proposed to achieve more durable treatment responses. Here, we explored the impact of selective BRAFi on the hosts' immune system.

Patients And Methods: Clinical data, whole blood counts (WBC) and serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) of 277 vemurafenib- and 65 dabrafenib-treated melanoma patients were evaluated.

Functional and symptom impact of trametinib versus chemotherapy in BRAF V600E advanced or metastatic melanoma: quality-of-life analyses of the METRIC study.

Background: In a randomized phase III study, trametinib prolonged progression-free survival and improved overall survival versus chemotherapy in patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive melanoma.

Patients And Methods: Patients' quality of life (QOL) was assessed at baseline and follow-up visits using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core QOL questionnaire.

Results: In the primary efficacy population (BRAF V600E+, no brain metastases) from baseline to weeks 6 and 12, patients' global health status scores worsened by 4-5 points with chemotherapy but improved by 2-3 points with trametinib.

The genetic landscape of clinical resistance to RAF inhibition in metastatic melanoma.

Most patients with BRAF(V600)-mutant metastatic melanoma develop resistance to selective RAF kinase inhibitors. The spectrum of clinical genetic resistance mechanisms to RAF inhibitors and options for salvage therapy are incompletely understood. We performed whole-exome sequencing on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumors from 45 patients with BRAF(V600)-mutant metastatic melanoma who received vemurafenib or dabrafenib monotherapy.

Blisters - an unusual effect during radiotherapy.

The skin reaction to radiation is regularly monitored in order to detect enhanced radiosensitivity of the patient, unexpected interactions (e.g. with drugs) or any inadvertent overdosage.

Malignant melanoma S3-guideline "diagnosis, therapy and follow-up of melanoma".

This first German evidence-based guideline for cutaneous melanoma was developed under the auspices of the German Dermatological Society (DDG) and the Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group (DeCOG) and funded by the German Guideline Program in Oncology. The recommendations are based on a systematic literature search, and on the consensus of 32 medical societies, working groups and patient representatives. This guideline contains recommendations concerning diagnosis, therapy and follow-up of melanoma.

RAF inhibition overcomes resistance to TRAIL-induced apoptosis in melanoma cells.

Mutated BRAF represents a critical oncogene in melanoma, and selective inhibitors have been approved for melanoma therapy. However, the molecular consequences of RAF inhibition in melanoma cells remained largely elusive. Here, we investigated the effects of the pan-RAF inhibitor L-779,450, which inhibited cell proliferation both in BRAF-mutated and wild-type melanoma cell lines.

Phase II trial (BREAK-2) of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib (GSK2118436) in patients with metastatic melanoma.

Purpose: Dabrafenib (GSK2118436) is a potent inhibitor of mutated BRAF kinase. Our multicenter, single-arm, phase II study assessed the safety and clinical activity of dabrafenib in BRAF(V600E/K) mutation-positive metastatic melanoma (mut(+) MM).

Patients And Methods: Histologically confirmed patients with stage IV BRAF(V600E/K) mut(+) MM received oral dabrafenib 150 mg twice daily until disease progression, death, or unacceptable adverse events (AEs).

Cutaneous side effects of combined therapy with sorafenib and pegylated interferon alpha-2b in metastatic melanoma (phase II DeCOG trial).

Background And Objectives: During a clinical study with combined therapy of sorafenib and pegylated interferon alpha-2b (SoraPeg study) of the German Dermatologic Oncology Group (ADO/DeCOG), multiple and severe cutaneous side effects were observed. This study sought to analyze these cutaneous side effects, particularly because future studies with combinations of interferon alpha and targeted therapies are planned.

Patients And Methods: In a multicenter phase-II-DeCOG study (NCT00623402) in 10 dermato-oncology centers, 55 patients with metastatic melanoma received a combination of sorafenib (2 x 400 mg/day orally) and pegylated interferon alpha-2b (3 μg/kg body weight 1 x/week subcutaneously).

Electrical impedance spectroscopy as a potential adjunct diagnostic tool for cutaneous melanoma.

Background: Previous studies have shown statistically significant differences in electrical impedance between various cutaneous lesions. Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) may therefore be able to aid clinicians in differentiating between benign and malignant skin lesions.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to develop a classification algorithm to distinguish between melanoma and benign lesions of the skin with a sensitivity of at least 98% and a specificity approximately 20 per cent higher than the diagnostic accuracy of dermatologists.

The price of tumor control: an analysis of rare side effects of anti-CTLA-4 therapy in metastatic melanoma from the ipilimumab network.

Background: Ipilimumab, a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) blocking antibody, has been approved for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and induces adverse events (AE) in up to 64% of patients. Treatment algorithms for the management of common ipilimumab-induced AEs have lead to a reduction of morbidity, e.g.

GABAB receptor antibodies in paraneoplastic cerebellar ataxia.

Autoantibodies to the gamma-aminobutyric acid-B (GABAB) receptor were recently described in patients with limbic encephalitis presenting with early or prominent seizures. We report on a 64-year-old man with malignant melanoma who during adjuvant therapy with interferon (IFN)-alpha developed cerebellar ataxia. Indirect immunofluorescence on brain tissue sections revealed high-titer (1:20,000) IgG1 serum autoantibodies to the cerebellar molecular and granular layer, which were confirmed to be directed against GABAB receptor in a cell-based assay.

Phase III randomized clinical trial comparing tremelimumab with standard-of-care chemotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma.

Purpose: In phase I/II trials, the cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4-blocking monoclonal antibody tremelimumab induced durable responses in a subset of patients with advanced melanoma. This phase III study evaluated overall survival (OS) and other safety and efficacy end points in patients with advanced melanoma treated with tremelimumab or standard-of-care chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Patients with treatment-naive, unresectable stage IIIc or IV melanoma were randomly assigned at a ratio of one to one to tremelimumab (15 mg/kg once every 90 days) or physician's choice of standard-of-care chemotherapy (temozolomide or dacarbazine).

Dabrafenib in patients with Val600Glu or Val600Lys BRAF-mutant melanoma metastatic to the brain (BREAK-MB): a multicentre, open-label, phase 2 trial.

Background: Brain metastases are common in patients with metastatic melanoma and median overall survival from their diagnosis is typically 17-22 weeks. We assessed dabrafenib in patients with Val600Glu or Val600Lys BRAF-mutant melanoma metastatic to the brain.

Methods: We undertook a multicentre, open-label, phase 2 trial in 24 centres in six countries.

Improved survival with MEK inhibition in BRAF-mutated melanoma.

Background: Activating mutations in serine-threonine protein kinase B-RAF (BRAF) are found in 50% of patients with advanced melanoma. Selective BRAF-inhibitor therapy improves survival, as compared with chemotherapy, but responses are often short-lived. In previous trials, MEK inhibition appeared to be promising in this population.