Phase II assessment of talabostat and cisplatin in second-line stage IV melanoma

Abstract Background Metastatic melanoma is an incurable disease with an average survival of less than one year. Talabostat is a novel dipeptidyl peptidase inhibitor with immunostimulatory properties. Methods This phase II, open label, single arm study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of 75–100 mg/m2 cisplatin combined with 300–400 mcg talabostat bid for 6, 21-day cycles. The primary endpoint was overall response. The rate of complete responses, duration of overall objective response, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival were the secondary endpoints. Results Six objective partial responses were recorded in the 74 patients (8.1%) in the intention-to-treat population. Five of these responses involved the 40 evaluable patients (12.5%). Thirty-one percent of patients reported SAEs to the combination of talabostat and cisplatin. Conclusion Acceptable tolerability was observed in the intention-to-treat population and antitumor activity was observed in 12.5% of evaluable patients, which is not greater than historical expectation with cisplatin alone.