Purpose of review: The therapeutic landscape for metastatic melanoma has been revolutionized in recent years. This review will discuss existing evidence for therapeutic approaches for BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma.
Recent findings: Clinical trials involving combined BRAF/MEK inhibition with either vemurafenib plus cobimetinib or dabrafenib plus trametinib have shown improved overall survival compared to monotherapy with BRAF inhibitors alone. In a subset of patients with good prognostic factors, long-term clinical benefit has been noted. Simultaneously, developments in immunotherapy have suggested long-lasting survival for some patients. In advanced BRAF-mutated melanoma, both BRAF/MEK inhibition and immunotherapy agents show improved overall survival and, in a small population of patients, prolonged and long-term benefit as compared to standard chemotherapy. Trials are currently underway evaluating sequencing of these therapies and the safety of targeted therapy plus immunotherapy combinations.
Keywords: BRAF; Dabrafenib; Immunotherapy; MEK; Melanoma; Metastatic; Vemurafenib.