This is a 5-year follow-up for the COMBI trials, which treated patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with dabrafenib (a BRAF inhibitor) and trametinib (a MEK inhibitor). Interim analyses have been published and all have shown significant overall and progression-free survivals. This study provides a critical follow-up point for combination BRAFi + MEKi, although the main message has been reported over the course of several years.
Patients who have unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600E or V600K mutation have prolonged progression-free survival and overall survival when receiving treatment with BRAF inhibitors plus MEK inhibitors. However, long-term clinical outcomes in these patients remain undefined. To determine 5-year survival rates and clinical characteristics of the patients with durable benefit, we sought to review long-term data from randomized trials of combination therapy with BRAF and MEK inhibitors.
First-line treatment with dabrafenib plus trametinib led to long-term benefit in approximately one third of the patients who had unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600E or V600K mutation.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1904059?query=featured_home
