A Clinical Trial: Adjuvant Low-dose Ipilimumab + Nivolumab After Resection of Melanoma Macrometastases

Nivolumab (OpdivoTM, BMS), a human IgG-4 anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody has demonstrated anti-tumor activity in patients with advanced melanoma. The investigators postulate that patients with melanoma nivolumab have a comparable tumor response rate at a dose range of 0.1 to 10 mg/kg q2wks. Ipilimumab (YervoyTM, BMS), a human IgG-1 anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody improves the survival of patients with advanced melanoma. Adjuvant therapy with ipilimumab improves the relapse-free survival after complete resection of high-risk stage III melanoma (EORTC 18071). Combined treatment with ipilimumab plus nivolumab improves the tumor response rate and overall survival of patients with advanced melanoma but is associated with a higher incidence of immune related adverse events (CheckMate 067).Nivolumab and ipilimumab have distinct immunological mechanisms that can be revealed by analyzing TCR usage in blood lymphocytes.