Research summary
Contributions sit within the clinical development of immune checkpoint blockade and BRAF/MEK-targeted therapy for metastatic melanoma. A phase 3 trial of ipilimumab, with or without a gp100 peptide vaccine, in 676 previously treated HLA-A*0201-positive patients with unresectable stage III/IV disease established overall-survival benefit for CTLA-4 blockade, an endpoint that had previously eluded melanoma trials [1]. Subsequent phase 3 work randomized 945 untreated patients to nivolumab, nivolumab plus ipilimumab, or ipilimumab alone with progression-free and overall survival as co-primary endpoints [2], with 3-year [4] and 5-year [6] follow-up reports of the combination regimen demonstrating durable benefit. Nivolumab monotherapy versus dacarbazine was evaluated in 418 untreated BRAF-wild-type metastatic melanoma patients [5]. For BRAF V600E-mutant disease, a phase 3 comparison of vemurafenib with dacarbazine in 675 untreated patients used overall and progression-free survival as co-primary endpoints and reported improved survival with the BRAF inhibitor [3]. Combined BRAF/MEK inhibition was tested in an open-label phase 3 trial of dabrafenib plus trametinib versus vemurafenib in 704 BRAF V600-mutant patients, with overall survival as the primary endpoint [9]. Mechanistic work in Science addressed genomic determinants of response: integrated analysis of intratumour heterogeneity showed that clonal neoantigen burden correlates with overall survival in primary lung adenocarcinomas, with CD8+ tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes reactive to clonal neoantigens expressing PD-1 and predicting sensitivity to PD-1/CTLA-4 blockade [7]. Whole-exome sequencing of pretreatment biopsies and matching germline tissue from 110 patients (with transcriptome data for 40) probed the contribution of neoantigens and tumour microenvironment alterations to ipilimumab response [8]. Methodologically the body of work combines randomized phase 3 trial design with tumour exome and transcriptome profiling to link genomic features to checkpoint-blockade outcomes.
Recent publications
- Improved Survival with Ipilimumab in Patients with Metastatic MelanomaDOI
- Combined Nivolumab and Ipilimumab or Monotherapy in Untreated MelanomaDOI
- Improved Survival with Vemurafenib in Melanoma with BRAF V600E MutationDOI
- Overall Survival with Combined Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Advanced MelanomaDOI
- Nivolumab in Previously Untreated Melanoma without BRAF MutationDOI
- Five-Year Survival with Combined Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Advanced MelanomaDOI
- Clonal neoantigens elicit T cell immunoreactivity and sensitivity to immune checkpoint blockadeDOI
- Genomic correlates of response to CTLA-4 blockade in metastatic melanomaDOI
- Vaccination of melanoma patients with peptide- or tumorlysate-pulsed dendritic cellsDOI
- Improved Overall Survival in Melanoma with Combined Dabrafenib and TrametinibDOI
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Email Dirk Schadendorf 6-12 months before your application deadline. Read several recent papers and reference specific work in your message. Use our how to email a Japanese professor guide for the proven email structure.
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External profiles
- ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3524-7858
- OpenAlex: openalex.org
Profile compiled from public sources (Researchmap, OpenAlex, University of Tsukuba faculty directory). Last refreshed 2026-05. Report incorrect information.