This is the first randomized trial that is positive for overall survival in uveal melanoma, and I’m very excited about the results, which I consider seminal and practice-changing,” said formal discussant Caroline Robert, MD, of Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France. “This is such a rare tumor, but it is refractory. Innovative technology led to the development of tebentafusp, and this is an incentive to develop other strategies using other peptides and [human leukocyte antigen] molecules.”
Caroline Robert, MD
Addressing the discrepancy between overall survival and response rates, Dr. Robert said: “There are many interpretations. This reminds us of the early situation with pseudoprogression and immune checkpoint inhibitors.”
DISCLOSURE: Dr. Robert has served as a consultant or advisor to Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre, Roche, and Sanofi.
Treatment with tebentafusp—a novel bispecific fusion protein—reduced the risk of death from metastatic uveal melanoma by half, compared with available treatments, in a phase III study presented at the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021.1 This is the first...