Articles

BRAF/MEK-targeted therapy rechallenge in patients with BRAF-mutation–positive advanced melanoma whose disease progress on first-line BRAF-targeted therapy and second-line immunotherapy leads to responses in approximately one-fourth of patients.

In an analysis of a French melanoma database, 43% of patients treated with anti–PD-1 therapy experienced a late-onset immune-related adverse event, defined as an event occurring after ≥2 years of treatment.

Nivolumab continues to be an effective adjuvant treatment for patients with resected high-risk melanoma at 4 years, with sustained recurrence-free and distant metastasis-free survival benefit compared with ipilimumab.

Analysis of the randomized COMBI-AD trial at 5 years shows >50% relapse-free survival in patients with resected stage III BRAF V⁶⁰⁰-mutation–positive melanoma who received adjuvant treatment with the combination of dabrafenib plus trametinib.

The latest analysis of the phase 3 EORTC 1325/KEYNOTE-054 clinical trial showed pembrolizumab to be superior to placebo after more than 3.5 years of follow-up on the end points of distant metastasis-free survival and relapse-free survival in patients with resected stage III melanoma.

Thyroid cancer is the most common form of endocrine malignancy and its incidence is increasing. Thyroid cancers usually present as painless nodules found upon palpation, and nodules >1 cm should be evaluated as they have a higher potential for being clinically significant cancers.

RET is a tyrosine kinase receptor that, when fused with a partner molecule, activates oncogenic activity. RET abnormalities are found in both papillary and medullary thyroid cancers and are promising targets for treatment.

Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) accounts for 5% of all thyroid cancers. The only curative treatment option for MTC is surgery, but understanding of the RET pathway and the development of therapies targeting this pathway may improve outcomes for these patients.

Papillary thyroid cancer is the most prevalent thyroid cancer, accounting for 80% of thyroid cancer diagnoses. Prognosis is good for patients with early and aggressive treatment, and the new and emerging therapies targeting the RET pathway may improve outcomes for patients with advanced disease.

Among patients with radioiodine-refractory advanced or metastatic thyroid cancer, tyrosine kinase inhibitors are guideline recommended. New RET-specific kinase inhibitors have recently demonstrated positive outcomes for these patients.