Patient case: 73-year-old male with melanoma; genetic feature: tumor cells negative for PD-L1 expression

Clinical trial: Pembrolizumab With or Without Talimogene Laherparepvec or Talimogene Laherparepvec Placebo in Unresected Melanoma (KEYNOTE-034)

Summary: Phase 1b Subjects will be treated with talimogene laherparepvec until all injectable tumors have disappeared, disease progression per modified Immune-Related Response Criteria (irRC), or intolerance of study treatment, up to a maximum of 24 months of study treatment. Subjects will be treated with MK-3475 (pembrolizumab) until complete response (CR) disease progression per irRC, or intolerance of study treatment, up to a maximum of 24 months of study treatment. In Phase 3, Subjects will be treated with talimogene laherparepvec plus pembrolizumab(arm 1) or placebo plus pembrolizumab (arm 2) until 24 months from the date of the first dose of pembrolizumab or end of treatment due to disappearance of injectable lesions, complete response, disease progression per irRC-RECIST or intolerance of study treatment.


Eligibility: Key Inclusion Criteria:
  -  Age ≥ 18 years with histologically confirmed diagnosis of melanoma and stage IIIB to IVM1c for whom surgery is not recommended.
  -  Subjects must have measurable disease and be a candidate for intralesional therapy administration into cutaneous, subcutaneous, or nodal lesions.
  -  ECOG performance status of 0 or 1.
  -  Adequate hematologic, hepatic, renal, and coagulation function.
  -  Subjects with BRAFV600 wild-type tumors must not have received any prior systemic anticancer treatment consisting of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy given in a non-adjuvant setting for unresectable stage IIIB to IVM1c melanoma.
  -  Subjects with B-Raf V600 (BRAFV600) mutated tumors who have received prior BRAF inhibitor therapy either alone or in combination with MEK inhibitor as their only prior systemic therapy are eligible.
  -  Subjects who received prior adjuvant therapy for melanoma will not be excluded (including, but not limited to, interferon, ipilimumab, limb infusion/perfusion, or use of investigational agents in the adjuvant setting) with the exception that prior adjuvant therapy with inhibitors of PD-1 or PD-L1 is not allowed. However, if the subject received adjuvant therapy, the subject must have completed therapy at least 28 days prior to enrollment.
  -  Subjects must have a tumor sample that is adequate for PD-L1 assessment prior to randomization.
  Key Exclusion Criteria:
  -  Subjects must not have clinically active cerebral metastases.
  -  Subjects must not have primary uveal or mucosal melanoma, history or evidence of melanoma associated with immunodeficiency states or history of other malignancy within the past 3 years.
  -  Subjects may not have been previously treated with talimogene laherparepvec, any other oncolytic virus, pembrolizumab, or any other inhibitor of PD-1, PD-L1, or PD-L2.
  -  Subjects must not have history or evidence of symptomatic autoimmune pneumonitis, glomerulonephritis, vasculitis, other symptomatic autoimmune disease, documented history of autoimmune disease or syndrome requiring systemic treatment in the past 2 years (ie, with use of disease modifying agents, steroids or immunosuppressive agents) except vitiligo or resolved childhood asthma/atopy, or evidence of clinically significant immunosuppression.
  -  Subjects must not have active herpetic skin lesions or prior complications of herpetic infection and must not require intermittent or chronic treatment with an antiherpetic drug (eg, acyclovir), other than intermittent topical use.

Relevance to patient case: not relevant