Impact of patient selection on new combinations in melanoma

While targeted therapies have delivered on their promise to make oncology more personalized, the addition of immunotherapy agents without first testing for patients who are most likely to benefit may limit the success of triplet combinations in melanoma, says analytics firm GlobalData.

The addition of Tecentriq (atezolizumab) to a doublet therapy consisting of Zelboraf (vemurafenib) and Cotellic (cobimetinib), all marketed by Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX), led to a significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) over the doublet therapy alone in the IMspire150 Phase III study. Despite this positive outcome, its positioning in the treatment sequence is uncertain, says GlobalData.

Further biomarker testing is needed