Cited by 15,155Cancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersCutaneous Melanoma Detection and ManagementImmunotherapy and Immune Responses

Improved Survival with Ipilimumab in Patients with Metastatic Melanoma

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Hodi, F. Stephen, O'Day, Steven J., McDermott, David F., Weber, Robert W., Sosman, Jeffrey A., Haanen, John B., Gonzalez, Rene, Robert, Caroline +21 more·2010·New England Journal of Medicine

Abstract

BACKGROUND: An improvement in overall survival among patients with metastatic melanoma has been an elusive goal. In this phase 3 study, ipilimumab--which blocks cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 to potentiate an antitumor T-cell response--administered with or without a glycoprotein 100 (gp100) peptide vaccine was compared with gp100 alone in patients with previously treated metastatic melanoma. METHODS: A total of 676 HLA-A*0201-positive patients with unresectable stage III or IV melanoma, whose disease had progressed while they were receiving therapy for metastatic disease, were randomly assigned, in a 3:1:1 ratio, to receive ipilimumab plus gp100 (403 patients), ipilimumab alone (137), or gp100 alone (136). Ipilimumab, at a dose of 3 mg per kilogram of body weight, was administered with or without gp100 every 3 weeks for up to four treatments (induction). Eligible patients could receive reinduction therapy. The primary end point was overall survival. RESULTS: The median overall survival was 10.0 months among patients receiving ipilimumab plus gp100, as compared with 6.4 months among patients receiving gp100 alone (hazard ratio for death, 0.68; P<0.001). The median overall survival with ipilimumab alone was 10.1 months (hazard ratio for death in the comparison with gp100 alone, 0.66; P=0.003). No difference in overall survival was detected between the ipilimumab groups (hazard ratio with ipilimumab plus gp100, 1.04; P=0.76). Grade 3 or 4 immune-related adverse events occurred in 10 to 15% of patients treated with ipilimumab and in 3% treated with gp100 alone. There were 14 deaths related to the study drugs (2.1%), and 7 were associated with immune-related adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Ipilimumab, with or without a gp100 peptide vaccine, as compared with gp100 alone, improved overall survival in patients with previously treated metastatic melanoma. Adverse events can be severe, long-lasting, or both, but most are reversible with appropriate treatment. (Funded by Medarex and Bristol-Myers Squibb; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00094653.)

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Crossref · 10.1056/nejmoa1003466

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  • In 2011, ipilimumab, an anti-CTLA-4 mAb, gained FDA approval based on promising results from a clinical trial in melanoma patients.

    “In 2011, based on promising results from a clinical trial in melanoma patients, the first ICI therapy ipilimumab, an anti-CTLA-4 mAb, has gained FDA approval [98].”

    From Advances in platinum-based cancer therapy: overcoming platinum resistance through rational combinatorial strategies (2025) · cites this paper as [98]

    The paper describes ipilimumab as a monoclonal antibody that blocks CTLA-4, and its Discussion reports improved overall survival in a phase 3 trial involving previously treated patients with metastatic melanoma. It does not establish that ipilimumab was the first immune-checkpoint therapy or that the FDA approved it in 2011 on the basis of this trial; searches for FDA and regulatory approval found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • Clinical trials of ICPis excluded patients with pre-existing active autoimmune diseases because of concerns of high susceptibility to severe irAEs.

    “Clinical trials of ICPis excluded patients with pre-existing active autoimmune diseases because of concerns of a high susceptibility to severe irAEs [49,50].”

    From Graves’ Disease during Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy (A Case Series and Literature Review) (2021) · cites this paper as [49]

    The Methods (Patients; page not provided) list autoimmune disease as an exclusion criterion for this ipilimumab trial. The Results (Adverse Events; page not provided) report severe immune-related adverse events, but the paper does not state that heightened susceptibility to those events in patients with pre-existing autoimmune disease was the reason for exclusion. It also does not establish the claim for checkpoint-inhibitor trials generally. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Treatment with immunotherapy targeting checkpoint inhibitors PD-1 or CTLA-4 significantly increases survival in patients with metastatic melanoma over other standards of care.

    “Treatment with immunotherapy targeting checkpoint inhibitors PD-1 or CTLA-4 significantly increases survival in patients with metastatic melanoma over other standards of care [1, 2]”

    From Relating the gut metagenome and metatranscriptome to immunotherapy responses in melanoma patients (2019) · cites this paper as [2]

    The Abstract Conclusions and Discussion report improved overall survival with the CTLA-4 blocker ipilimumab in previously treated patients with metastatic melanoma. This study did not test PD-1 blockade, and its comparator was the gp100 vaccine, not other standards of care generally. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors greatly enhance clinical outcomes across multiple cancer types.

    “While immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have greatly enhanced clinical outcomes across multiple cancer types,1, 2, 3”

    From irAE-GPT: leveraging large language models to identify immune-related adverse events in electronic health records and clinical trial datasets (2026) · cites this paper as [1]

    The Discussion (page not supplied) reports that ipilimumab, a checkpoint inhibitor, improved overall survival in previously treated patients with metastatic melanoma. This supports improved outcomes for one inhibitor in one cancer type, but not the claim that inhibitors have enhanced outcomes across multiple cancer types. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Antibodies against CTLA-4 (ipilimumab) or PD1 (nivolumab) induce quick and intense tumor regression in melanoma and NSCLC patients and are under clinical investigation in other solid tumors, including colorectal cancer.

    “Antibodies against CTLA-4 (ipilimumab) or PD1 (nivolumab) have been shown to induce quick and intense tumor regression in melanoma and NSCLC patients and are currently under clinical investigation in other solid tumors, including CRC [132, 133]”

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Authors
Hodi, F. S., O'Day, S. J., McDermott, D. F., Weber, R. W., Sosman, J. A., Haanen, J. B., Gonzalez, R., Robert, C., Schadendorf, D., Hassel, J. C., Akerley, W., van den Eertwegh, A. J. M., Lutzky, J., Lorigan, P., Vaubel, J. M., Linette, G. P., Hogg, D., Ottensmeier, C. H., Lebbé, C., Peschel, C., Quirt, I., Clark, J. I., Wolchok, J. D., Weber, J. S., Tian, J., Yellin, M. J., Nichol, G. M., Hoos, A., & Urba, W. J.
Affiliations
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
  • Angeles Clinic and Research Institute (US)
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (US)
  • St. Mary's Medical Center (US)
  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center (US)
  • The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NL)
  • University of Colorado Cancer Center (US)
  • Institut Gustave Roussy (FR)
  • Essen University Hospital (DE)
  • University of Mannheim (DE)
  • Huntsman Cancer Institute (US)
  • Mount Sinai Medical Center (US)
  • The Christie Hospital (GB)
  • Washington University in St. Louis (US)
  • Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (CA)
  • University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
  • Technical University of Munich (DE)
  • Loyola University Medical Center (US)
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
  • Moffitt Cancer Center (US)
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb (United States) (US)
Venue
New England Journal of Medicine
Published
2010-08-19
Volume
363
Issue
8
Pages
711-723
ISSN
  • 0028-4793 (ISSN-L)
  • 1533-4406
OpenAlex
W2097995306
Cited by
15,155
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 414 · 2025: 584 · 2024: 743 · 2023: 876 · 2022: 880 · 2021: 1154 · 2020: 1165 · 2019: 1106 · 2018: 1215 · 2017: 1290 · 2016: 1262 · 2015: 1265 · 2014: 1017 · 2013: 898 · 2012: 692
FWCI
341.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • New England Journal of Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion)
  • Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Digital Commons@Becker (Washington University School of Medicine) (submittedVersion)
  • Universitätsbibliographie, Universität Duisburg-Essen (submittedVersion)
  • ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
  • mediaTUM – the media and publications repository of the Technical University Munich (Technical University Munich) (submittedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • Syracuse University
  • Moffitt Cancer Center
  • National Cancer Institute (K24CA097588)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cutaneous Melanoma Detection and Management
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
Keywords
ipilimumab, metastatic melanoma, CTLA-4 blockade, immune checkpoint inhibitors, overall survival, immune-related adverse events, HLA-A*0201, cancer immunotherapy, reinduction therapy, T cell response, immune-related pneumonitis, immune-related colitis
MeSH terms
Ipilimumab, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Combined Modality Therapy, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Male, Melanoma, Middle Aged, Skin Neoplasms, Antigens, CD, Treatment Outcome, Cancer Vaccines, Kaplan-Meier Estimate, CTLA-4 Antigen

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