MAGE-A3 expression in patients screened for the DERMA trial: A phase III trial testing MAGE-A3 immunotherapeutic in the adjuvant setting for stage IIIB-C-Tx melanoma.

8559 Background: Administration of MAGE-A3 immunotherapeutic involves the active immunization of patients (pts) with tumors expressing the MAGE-A3 protein. This new investigational approach has been previously assessed in two phase II trials, one in pts with metastatic melanoma (NCT00086866) and another in pts with completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NCT00290355). Based on the positive responses observed in both studies, a randomized phase III placebo controlled trial assessing MAGE-A3 immunotherapeutic as adjuvant treatment in pts with resected, regionally advanced melanoma (stage IIIB-C-Tx AJCC/UICC 2010) is currently ongoing (DERMA Phase III trial, NCT00796445). Methods: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissues were prepared from surgically removed metastatic lymph nodes and tested for MAGE-A3 expression by qRT-PCR. Other baseline patient and tumor characteristics were collected during screening to further investigate factors that could potentially influence MAGE-A3 expression. Resul...