Even after successfully removing melanoma through surgery, patients may be at risk for melanoma coming back. Nivolumab (Opdivo) in the adjuvant setting reduces this risk by stimulating the body’s immune system to fight any remaining cancer cells.
In December 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of nivolumab for the treatment of melanoma patients with lymph node involvement or metastatic disease who have undergone complete resection. Treatment after surgery is known as adjuvant therapy. The goal of nivolumab as adjuvant therapy is to reduce the risk of melanoma coming back after surgery.
Patients with Stage III melanoma usually undergo surgery to remove the primary melanoma and the nearby lymph nodes. With nivolumab as adjuvant therapy after surgery, patients can reduce their risk of melanoma returning or improving what doctor’s call recurrence-free survival (RFS).
The FDA approved the use of nivolumab in the adjuvant setting based on results from the CheckMate-238 trial. In this study, nivolumab significantly improved recurrence-free survival at 18 months by 13% when compared to ipilimumab in patients with resected Stage III or Stage IV melanoma. Compared to ipilimumab, nivolumab led to fewer serious treatment-related toxicities, including those that require treatment discontinuation.
Learn more about adjuvant therapy for high-risk melanoma (stages IIB, IIC, III and IV).
Nivolumab blocks the activity of a molecule called PD-1, a protein that prevents T cells (white blood cells that help your body fight disease) from recognizing and attacking inflamed tissues and cancer cells. PD-1 can trick your immune system into overlooking melanoma cells as normal cells.
In addition to its use for the adjuvant therapy of melanoma, nivolumab is used to treat advanced melanoma that is unresectable or has spread to organs and other parts of the body. Learn more about the use of nivolumab for advanced melanoma.
Patients receive nivolumab intravenously (into a blood vein).
In the adjuvant setting, the goal of Nivolumab is to reduce the risk of melanoma returning following surgery.
Not all treatments work for all patients, because everyone is different. If you are interested in learning more about nivolumab, here are some questions you should ask your physicians:
Patient Assistant Programs (PAPs) are designed so that you still have access to the treatments you need, in any financial circumstance. Learn more about the manufacturer’s patient assistance program and other options here.
Manufacturer’s Patient Assistance
Learn more about the latest, most effective treatments for patients who have melanoma:
