Melanoma Clinical Trials (206 Recruiting)

Melanoma Trials at a Glance

431 actively recruiting trials for melanoma are listed on ClinicalTrialsFinder across 6 cities in 48 countries. The largest study group is Phase 2 with 162 trials, with the heaviest enrollment activity in Houston, New York, and Pittsburgh. Lead sponsors running melanoma studies include M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, National Cancer Institute (NCI), and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute.

Understanding Melanoma Clinical Trials

Clinical trials have completely transformed melanoma from one of the most treatment-resistant cancers to one of the most treatable. The combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) — developed and validated through clinical trials — can produce long-term survival in over 50 percent of patients with advanced melanoma, a disease that was nearly universally fatal just 15 years ago. BRAF-targeted combinations like dabrafenib plus trametinib offer rapid tumor shrinkage for the approximately 50 percent of melanomas harboring BRAF V600 mutations. Trials are now pushing further, testing personalized cancer vaccines, novel checkpoint combinations, and neoadjuvant strategies that could improve cure rates even more.

Why Consider a Clinical Trial?

While checkpoint immunotherapy and BRAF-targeted therapy have dramatically improved outcomes, approximately 40 to 50 percent of advanced melanoma patients still do not achieve long-term disease control with current standard treatments. Resistance to both immunotherapy and targeted therapy remains a major challenge. Clinical trials offer access to next-generation checkpoint inhibitors, LAG-3 and TIGIT-targeting antibodies, personalized neoantigen vaccines, and combination strategies designed to overcome resistance and extend durable responses to more patients. For patients with earlier-stage melanoma, trials are testing neoadjuvant immunotherapy (treatment before surgery) that has shown remarkable pathologic complete response rates in recent studies, potentially changing the surgical approach and improving long-term outcomes. Adjuvant therapy trials after surgery test whether novel agents or combinations can reduce recurrence rates better than current single-agent checkpoint inhibitors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Melanoma clinical trials

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy means receiving checkpoint inhibitor treatment before surgery to remove melanoma. Recent trials have shown this approach can produce complete pathologic responses (no viable cancer found in the surgical specimen) in a significant percentage of patients. It may improve long-term outcomes and is being studied in multiple ongoing clinical trials for resectable stage III and IV melanoma.

Yes. Personalized neoantigen vaccines, which are custom-made based on your individual tumor's unique mutations, are being tested in several melanoma clinical trials. Early results have been promising when combined with checkpoint immunotherapy. These vaccines are currently only available through clinical trial participation.

It depends on the severity and type of side effects you experienced. Some trials are specifically designed for patients who had to stop immunotherapy due to immune-related adverse events, offering alternative treatment approaches. Others may exclude patients with certain prior toxicities. Discuss your specific history with the study team to find appropriate options.

BRAF status is determined through molecular testing of your melanoma tissue, usually from a biopsy. About half of cutaneous melanomas carry BRAF mutations that make them eligible for BRAF-targeted therapy. Your BRAF status also influences immunotherapy treatment decisions and determines which clinical trials you qualify for. This testing should be performed on all advanced melanomas.

Melanoma Clinical Trials

Melanoma Trials at a Glance

Browse melanoma trials by phase

Top cities for melanoma trials

Treatments under study

Understanding Melanoma Clinical Trials

Why Consider a Clinical Trial?

Frequently Asked Questions

DESTINY-PANTUMOUR04

BiCaZO: A Study Combining Two Immunotherapies (Cabozantinib and Nivolumab) to Treat Patients With Advanced Melanoma or Squamous Cell Head and Neck Cancer, an immunoMATCH Pilot Study

Evaluation for NCI Surgery Branch Clinical Research Protocols

Immunotherapy in Combination With Prednisone and Sirolimus for Kidney Transplant Recipients With Unresectable or Metastatic Skin Cancer

A Study to Assess IPN01194 When Administered Alone in Adults With Advanced Solid Tumours

Novel RNA-lipid Particle (RNA-LP) Vaccine for Anti-PD-1 Antibody Therapy Sensitization

Safety and Efficacy of OBX-115 in Advanced Solid Tumors

A First-In Human (FIH) Study to Find Out How Well REGN10597 Medicine Given Alone or in Combination With Cemiplimab Works in Adult Participants Who Have Cancer With Tumors That Have Spread in Their Body

A Phase 2 Trial for Metastatic Melanoma Using Adoptive Cell Therapy With Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes Plus IL-2 Either Alone or Following the Administration of Pembrolizumab

A Study of DXC014 in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors.

A Study to Investigate Safety of AZD6750 in Adult Participants With Select Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors

Familial Investigations of Childhood Cancer Predisposition

A Study of Fianlimab, Cemiplimab, and Ipilimumab in People With Melanoma

Tebentafusp and Roginolisib in Uveal Melanoma to Prolong T-cell Homeostasis

Radiation Combined With BIspecific T-Cell Engager in DLL3 Expressing Tumors

A Study to Learn About the Study Medicine Called PF-07799933 in People With Advanced Solid Tumors With BRAF Alterations.

Anti-PD-1 mAb Plus Metabolic Modulator in Solid Tumor Malignancies

A Study to Learn About the Study Medicine Called PF-07799544 as Monotherapy or in Combination in People With Advanced Solid Tumors

Pilot Study of Bone Mineral Density Changes During Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy

SUPRAME-ACTengine® IMA203 vs. Investigator's Choice of Treatment in Previously Treated, Unresectable or Metastatic Cutaneous Melanoma