The current and future treatment of metastatic melanoma

Georgina Long, PhD, MBBS, FRACP, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, discusses whether there is a cure for metastatic melanoma on the horizon, giving an overview of the current treatment landscape. Prof. Long reports that CTLA4 and PD-1 targeted checkpoint inhibitor therapy achieve a 52% five-year overall survival rate. Prof. Long also outlines attempts to make 'cold' tumors 'hot', highlighting data from the KEYNOTE-252 trial of pembrolizumab plus epacadostat (NCT02752074) and the KEYNOTE-034 trial (NCT02263508) of pembrolizumab with or without talimogene laherparepvec (TVEC), both of which reported negative results. Finally, Prof. Long emphasizes the importance of translational research to better understand mechanisms of resistance to PD-1 inhibitors and outlines the neoadjuvant platform for melanoma and novel prognostic scores to optimize melanoma treatment. This interview took place during the 10th World Congress of Melanoma in conjunction with the 17th EADO Congress Interactive Virtual Meeting.