What the trial was testing
The trial enrolled 378 patients with melanoma. The study was sponsored by Immunocore Ltd and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
It was a large trial designed to confirm whether the treatment works well enough for wider use. Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.
What the results showed
Tebentafusp helped 73% of patients survive one year versus 59% with standard treatment.
The New England journal of medicine · 2021 · NCT03070392
These findings — that nearly three out of four patients treated with tebentafusp survived at least one year. — were published in the The New England journal of medicine and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 378 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with melanoma, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
Tebentafusp (brand name Kimmtrak) is now FDA-approved for adults with metastatic uveal melanoma who have a specific genetic marker (HLA-A*02:01). This study showed it helped patients live longer than older treatments. If you have this type of eye cancer, ask your doctor whether genetic testing for HLA-A*02:01 and tebentafusp might be right for you.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open melanoma trials
Pancreas Registry and High Risk Registry
The purpose of this study is to establish a registry of patients with pancreatic diseases. Patients included in the registry may include those with: pancreatic cancer, precancerous lesions of the pancreas, inflammatory lesions of the pancreas, cystic lesions of the pancreas, and patients at high-risk of pancreatic cancer such as those with a family history of pancreatic cancer or with a family history of a syndrome known to be associated with pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. However, little is known about the development of pancreatic cancer and pancreatic diseases in individuals with the above conditions. Knowledge of how family history, environmental exposures, and inflammatory lesion of the pancreas contribute to the development of pancreatic cancer and pancreatic diseases is essential. You may qualify to take part in this research study because you have inflammation in the pancreas, a pancreatic cyst, pre-cancerous lesions of the pancreas, pancreatic cancer, a family history of pancreatic cancer, or a family history of a syndrome known to be associated with pancreatic cancer. We will also be collecting a blood sample from all participants for DNA isolation. Sometimes we are born with genes or DNA that give us an increased or decreased chance of developing an illness later in life. Genetic material will be isolated from your blood for further study. You may also choose to provide additional blood samples for serum and plasma extraction. Serum and plasma are components of the blood which can be used to measure indicators of disease in the blood, called biomarkers,for pancreatic diseases. Clinical data and biological specimens contained in this study may be used for a wide variety of future related studies to the cause, diagnosis, outcome and treatment of pancreatic cancer. Funds for conducting this research are provided by Mount Sinai.
Video Education With Result Dependent dIsclosure
The overall study objective of this trial study is to identify and evaluate strategies to improve the accessibility of the video education with result dependent disclosure (VERDI) model, increasingly utilized as a pre-genetic testing (pretest) education alternative in clinical practice, to better serve a more diverse patient population at risk for hereditary cancers.