Rapid Evolution of Combination Therapy in Melanoma

Clinical research efforts from the 1980s through 2011 to find effective treatments for patients with metastatic melanoma were Herculean in effort but Sisyphean in outcome. Agents and combinations tested showed no convincing survival benefit; there were no new medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 1992 and 2011, and even first-line therapy was of questionable value as compared with supportive care. All that changed in 2010 with the publication of the first phase 3, randomized study showing a survival benefit for patients with advanced disease.1 These and subsequent results led to the FDA approvals of ipilimumab, an . . .