WEDNESDAY, Dec. 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with advanced unresectable melanoma, nivolumab 3 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 1 mg/kg (NIVO3+IPI1) demonstrates improved efficacy, with a lower incidence of immune-related adverse events, according to a study published online Dec. 8 in Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Noting that nivolumab 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 3 mg/kg (NIVO1+IPI3) was approved for advanced melanoma in 2016 and that improved tolerability has been demonstrated with the flipped dose (NIVO3+IPI1), Karl Bjӧrkstrӧm, M.D., Ph.D., from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues examined patients with advanced unresectable melanoma treated with NIVO3+IPI1 or NIVO1+IPI3 (209 and 190 patients, respectively).

The researchers found that the objective response rate was 48.8 and 36.9 percent for NIVO3+IPI1 or NIVO1+IPI3, respectively. The adjusted hazard ratios for progression-free and overall survival were 0.67 and 0.59, respectively. In most studied subgroups, the adjusted hazard ratio was <1 in favor of NIVO3+IPI1. The incidence of grade 3 to 5 immune-related adverse events was 30.6 and 51.1 percent with NIVO3+IPI1 and NIVO1+IPI3, respectively.

"The results are highly interesting in oncology, as we show that a lower dose of an immunotherapy drug, in addition to causing significantly fewer side effects, actually gives better results against tumors and longer survival," lead author Hildur Helgadottir, M.D., Ph.D., also from the Karolinska Institutet, said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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