Patients with stage III melanoma with palpable disease, naïve for CTLA-4/PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy, will be treated either post-surgery for 12 weeks with the combination of ipilimumab+nivolumab or in a split design for 6 weeks upfront surgery and for 6 weeks postsurgery. It is a two-arm Phase 1b feasibility trial consisting of 20 patients, 10 in each arm.~At different timepoints tumor biopsies and blood for PBMCs will be taken for translational research. Also scans will be done on specific timepoints.~The study will be held to determine safety, feasibility, and the immune-activating capacity of short-term combined neo-adjuvant and adjuvant ipilimumab + nivolumab. And to determine relapse free survival (RFS), any late adverse events, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, and the correlation between RFS and changes in neo-antigen specific T cell response.
This is a two-arm Phase 1b feasibility trial consisting of 20 patients receiving the combination of ipilimumab+nivolumab, either adjuvant, or split neo-adjuvant and adjuvant.