Ipi, Nivo, Combo and Radiation for patients with Melanoma Brain Mets!!! Finally!

New Trial for patients with brain mets in AU

This report is poorly written, and a little ambiguous, but it seems clear that this trial has begun treating melanoma brain met patients.  Patients are given either Nivolumab (Opdivo) alone or Nivo combined with ipi (Yervoy) or...as best as one can tell....Nivo combined with radiation.  How the radiation is added and with which drug is the part that is a little unclear.  But either way....I shout...YAY!!!!!  It's about time!!!!!

I've been yelling....YES, NIVO AND IPI CAN WORK IN THE BRAIN!!!!!

Overview of effective brain met treatments

More brain met data from 2013

anti-PD1 works in the brain!!!

And when you add radiation:

ipi and radiation

SRS and anti-PD1


Outcome with stereotactic radiosurgery and ipilimumab for malignant melanoma brain metastases.  Abstract from ASCO 2014.  Shoukat, Marcus, Rizzo, et al.

Patients with melanoma brain mets who underwent SRS between 1998-2012 (n=176) were compared to those who additionally received ipi (n-38).  Median overall survival for the cohort was 9 vs 7 months in the non-ipi group.  Patients in the ipi group had a median survival of 28 vs 7 months in the non-ipi group.  No increased toxicity or need for repeated SRS in the ipi group.  Conclusion:  SRS with ipi appears safe and associated with an increase in overall survival in patients with melanoma brain mets.

Results from the folks (like me who had had brain mets) in my NED Nivo trial: Me and my fellow 33 ratties...our Nivo trial results

And finally....bigger folks than I ask the question.... Should melanoma brain met patients be allowed in trials?

YES, YES, YES, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Hang in there ratties!!! - c