The FDA has granted an accelerated approval to the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) as a treatment for patients with BRAF V600 wild-type (WT) unresectable or metastatic melanoma, based on findings from the phase II CheckMate-069 study.

In the phase II study, the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab plus CTLA-4 inhibitor ipilimumab reduced the risk of progression or death by 60% compared ipilimumab alone (HR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.22-0.71; P <.002). With the combination, the objective response rate (ORR) was 60% compared with 11% with ipilimumab alone in patients with BRAF WT melanoma. Additionally, the complete response rate with the combination was 17% versus none with monotherapy. Click here to read the full article at OncLive.com.