# CheckMate 915

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/checkmate-915/  
OnCo record `checkmate-915` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

CheckMate 915 asked whether adding a low dose of ipilimumab to nivolumab after melanoma surgery would prevent more recurrences; it did not, and added toxicity, so single-agent PD-1 blockade remains the adjuvant standard.

## Summary

Nivolumab plus ipilimumab is the most active combination in advanced melanoma, and CheckMate 915 tested whether a lower-toxicity version (ipilimumab 1 mg/kg every six weeks) would improve on nivolumab alone after complete resection of stage IIIB to IV melanoma. It randomised 1844 patients, with recurrence-free survival in the whole population and in PD-L1-low tumours as the dual primary endpoints.

The combination did not improve recurrence-free survival in either population and caused more treatment-related adverse events. Adjuvant nivolumab or pembrolizumab alone remain the standards, and later trials have tested relatlimab (RELATIVITY-098) and neoadjuvant approaches (NADINA) instead.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: negative
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Tags: subtype-trials
- Registry id: NCT03068455
- Phase: 3
- Setting: Resected stage IIIB to IV melanoma: adjuvant nivolumab plus low-dose ipilimumab against nivolumab alone
- Sponsor: Bristol Myers Squibb
- Enrolled: 1844
- Result: Nivolumab plus low-dose ipilimumab did not improve recurrence-free survival over nivolumab alone after resection of stage III to IV melanoma.
- Outcomes: Recurrence-free survival, all randomised participants (registry results): Nivolumab + ipilimumab vs Nivolumab, HR 0.9; Recurrence-free survival, PD-L1 expression below 1% (registry results): Nivolumab + ipilimumab 33.15 months vs Nivolumab 27.63 months, HR 0.92

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03068455: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03068455

## Connected records

- cancers: [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Stage III melanoma (after surgery)](https://onco.cc/cancers/stage-iii-melanoma/)
- technologies: [Immune checkpoint inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/)
- drugs: [Ipilimumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/ipilimumab/), [Nivolumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/nivolumab/)
- companies: [Bristol Myers Squibb](https://onco.cc/companies/bms/)
- people: [Jeffrey S. Weber](https://onco.cc/people/jeffrey-weber/)
- key papers: [Pretreatment and on-treatment ctDNA and tissue biomarkers predict recurrence in patients with stage IIIB-D/IV melanoma treated with adjuvant immunotherapy: CheckMate 915](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-checkmate-915-j-immunother-cancer-2025/)
- ideas: [Extended-interval immunotherapy: give checkpoint inhibitors every 8-12 weeks once stable](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-tr1-extended-interval-checkpoint-dosing/), [Give immunotherapy in the morning](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-chronotherapy-immunotherapy/), [Microbiome transplant as a routine immunotherapy adjunct](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-microbiome-io-fmt/), [Randomised trials of stopping immunotherapy after one year versus continuing](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-tr1-immunotherapy-stop-trials/), [Treat the draining lymph node before removing it](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio2-lymph-node-immune-priming/)

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