An immunotherapy combination for untreated melanoma was found to be more successful in reducing the risk of death and progression of the disease than a drug currently used as a standard of care.

Researchers shared data that patients treated with nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) lived progression-free survival (PFS) for 11.5 months in comparison with ipilimumab alone (2.9 months) and 6.9 months with nivolumab monotherapy.

Among patients who tested positive for programmed death receptor ligand 1 (PD-L1), median PFS counted with the combination and nivolumab alone was found to have increased to 14 months. Researchers said that the time period was four times more than the PFS patients who just received ipilimumab.

Negative point was increased toxicity, as adverse events took place. Those who stopped taking the treatment owing to side-effects also did better with the combination.

"The majority of adverse events were managed and resolved with established algorithms, so based upon the available evidence, the combination represents a means to improve outcomes, particularly for patients whose tumors have less than 5% PD-L1 expression", said Jedd D. Wolchok from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

The phase-III trial results go with the extended results from a phase-II trial result, which also shows that a PFS advantage for the combination over ipilimumab alone. Researchers said that preclinical, phase I and phase II studies have also shown response, complete response, and survival were better with the combination that with ipilimumab alone.