With the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting (ASCO25) wrapping up today, we’re taking some time to highlight some of the innovative studies presented about melanoma. The five-day conference, which ran from May 30 through June 3, was held in Chicago, Illinois. The annual event featured oncology experts from all around the world coming together to discuss the latest insights, share emerging technologies, and network with colleagues.
With so many research presentations at the event, we’ve created rundowns for breast cancer, hematologic malignancies, and melanoma to help you better browse through some of the exciting topics presented at ASCO25.
- Description: Using a proof-of-principal randomized trial of a fully controlled feeding study comparing high fiber diet intervention (HFDI) with healthy control diet in melanoma patients receiving immune checkpoint blockade. The primary objective was to establish the effects of HFDI on the structure and function of the gut microbiome.
- Result: The study suggests potential benefits of HFDI on clinical outcomes and toxicity profile with immune checkpoint blockade, warranting further study in Phase III trials powered for disease outcomes.
A Phase II Study of Neoadjuvant Lenvatinib Plus Pembrolizumab in Merkel Cell Carcinoma
- Description: Given the success of checkpoint inhibitor therapy in the advanced setting in Merkel cell carcinoma, there is interest in exploring immunotherapy as a neoadjuvant approach, which additionally allows a window of opportunity to assess the efficacy of new immunotherapy combinations.
- Result: Lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab demonstrated encouraging efficacy with anticipated toxicity when used as neoadjuvant therapy for Merkel cell carcinoma. The primary endpoint of the study was met with 57.7% of patients achieving a pathological complete response. Patients with a pathological complete response had a lower risk of recurrence vs those without, but recurrences were seen even after pathological complete response.
- Description: Researchers presented the safety and efficacy of DNV3, a LAG-3 inhibitor, in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor and chemotherapy for patients with advanced acral and mucosal melanoma.
- Result: The study provided preliminary evidence of the tolerability and potential efficacy of the combination of DNV3 plus Toripalimab with chemotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma, particularly in those with mucosal melanoma and liver metastases.
- Description: Cemiplimab is the first PD-L1 inhibitor approved for the treatment of patients with locally advanced (la) or metastatic (m) cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) not amenable to curative therapy. Researchers presented an analysis of cemiplimab-treated patients with advanced CSCC enrolled in the CASE study.
- Result: The interim results of this Phase IV study demonstrate robust effectiveness and a generally manageable safety profile of cemiplimab in patients with laCSCC/mCSCC in real-world practice that are comparable to the results of the EMPOWER-CSCC-1 trial.
- Description: Researchers presented long-term outcomes in patients with merkel cell carcinoma who discontinued retifanlimab for reasons other than confirmed disease progression, as previous studies have suggested high rates of recurrence in patients discontinuing treatment after initial response.
- Result: Retifanlimab 500 mg administered q4w IV for up to two years led to durable clinical responses in the majority of patients with advanced merkel cell carcinoma. Most patients with an ongoing objective response (CR or PR) remain progression free beyond discontinuation of therapy, suggesting sustained benefit is possible in patients with this highly aggressive disease.
- Description: In this phase I study, researchers aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of OH2 and Pucotenlimab, in combination with liver metastasis-directed radiotherapy in patients with melanoma.
- Result: The combination of systemic anti-PD-1 therapy with intralesional injection of an oncolytic virus and radiotherapy has demonstrated a remarkable ORR and excellent OS in patients with melanoma and liver metastases, with manageable toxicity.
For a full list of abstracts, visit the official ASCO25 website.
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