MELANOMA & OTHER SKIN CANCERS
F. Stephen Hodi, MD
Director of the Center for Immuno-Oncology and the Melanoma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
F. Stephen Hodi, MD, is a trailblazer in the development of immunotherapy and melanoma therapeutics, particularly checkpoint inhibitors.
- Dr Hodi led the first human trial of the CTLA-4 checkpoint inhibitor ipilimumab (Yervoy). He later led the phase III registration trial, which produced the first results to show a survival advantage for adults with metastatic melanoma and led to FDA approval in 2011. The indication was later expanded to include pediatric patients.
- In 2014, Dr Hodi helped led a phase I study with favorable overall survival results and durable tumor regression in patients with advanced melanoma who received the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo). The FDA approved the drug for melanoma later that year.
- The following year, the FDA approved the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab for patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma based on findings from Dr Hodi and colleagues.
- He also has explored molecular biomarkers and targeted therapies for patients with melanoma, including studies into whether the KIT mutation may be a therapeutic target.
- Dr Hodi is the Sharon Crowley Martin Chair in Melanoma at Dana-Farber and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He also is a member of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.
