Combination high-dose interleukin-2 and nivolumab for programmed cell death-1 refractory metastatic melanoma: a case series

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic options are needed for metastatic melanoma refractory to therapies directed against programmed cell death-1. High-dose interleukin-2 has the potential to overcome programmed cell death-1 resistance. CASE PRESENTATION: We report three consecutive Caucasian patients, two female (60 and 55 years old) and one male (56 years old), refractory to anti-programmed cell death-1 therapy who were treated with concurrent nivolumab and standard-dosing bolus high-dose interleukin-2. We did not see any unexpected toxicities with overlapping treatments as compared with either high-dose interleukin-2 or nivolumab alone. CONCLUSIONS: The tolerance and disease control observed among the three patients in this limited series support formal exploration of this combination.