Cancer Therapy AdvisorT-VEC Demonstrates Long-Term Efficacy in High-Risk Melanoma

Phase 2 Trial Reveals Superior Relapse-Free and Overall Survival Rates with T-VEC

A recent study in JAMA Oncology has shed light on the potential benefits of administering talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) before surgical intervention in patients with advanced melanoma. The findings indicate a significant improvement in long-term survival metrics compared to surgery alone.

HCN Medical Memo
These findings underscore the potential of T-VEC as a neoadjuvant treatment in improving long-term outcomes for advanced melanoma patients. The data suggests that incorporating T-VEC into the treatment regimen could offer a significant survival advantage, making it a subject worthy of further investigation and possibly altering future treatment protocols.

Key Points

• The study was a phase 2 trial involving 150 patients with stage IIIB-IVM1a melanoma.
• Patients treated with T-VEC before surgery had a 5-year relapse-free survival (RFS) rate of 22.3%, compared to 15.2% in the surgery-alone group.
• The 5-year overall survival rate was 77.3% in the T-VEC group and 62.7% in the surgery-alone group.
• Distant metastasis-free survival was notably better in the T-VEC arm (HR, 0.73; 80% CI, 0.57-0.94).
• Researchers advocate for further studies combining T-VEC with checkpoint inhibitors for high-risk melanoma.

“These results support further investigation of neoadjuvant T-VEC combined with checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of resectable high-risk melanoma.”
– Dummer R, Gyorki DE, Hyngstrom JR, et al (Researchers)

Additional Points

• Patients in the T-VEC arm received six intralesional injections prior to surgery.
• Adjuvant therapy was more commonly administered in the surgery-alone group (31.9% vs. 13.7% in the T-VEC group).
• The median follow-up for the study was 63.3 months.

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