Cobimetinib and vemurafenib for the treatment of melanoma

Introduction: Cobimetinib combined with vemurafenib is a new approved MEK inhibitor for first line treatment of metastatic melanoma patients with BRAF V600 mutations. It improves tumor response rates and progression free survival compared to vemurafenib alone, while decreasing toxicities due to the paradoxical activation of the MAPK signaling pathway.

Areas covered: This review covers the pharmacology, efficacy, and toxicity data derived from clinical and preclinical studies on cobimetinib. It also reports ongoing trials evaluating cobimetinib to better understand future developments for this drug.

Expert opinion: The combination of cobimetinib and vemurafenib seems to be more toxic than the combination therapy dabrafenib and trametinib even if these four drugs have never been compared in a randomized trial. The future of this combination depends on its capacity to be combined simultaneously or sequentially with immune based therapies to improve the durability of responses.