{"entity":{"id":"hussein-tawbi","kind":"person","name":"Hussein A. Tawbi","aka":[],"tldr":"Led RELATIVITY-047, which made relatlimab the first approved LAG-3 inhibitor, and the trial that showed immunotherapy works in melanoma brain metastases.","summary":"Hussein Tawbi was principal investigator of RELATIVITY-047, which showed nivolumab plus relatlimab improves progression-free survival over nivolumab alone and led to the first approval of a LAG-3-targeted therapy, and of CheckMate 204, which showed nivolumab plus ipilimumab produces durable intracranial responses in melanoma brain metastases, changing their management. He leads brain metastasis research at MD Anderson.","asOf":"2026-09-10","links":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Tawbi%20HA%5BAuthor%5D%20melanoma%20relatlimab%20OR%20brain"}],"tags":["melanoma","lag3","brain-metastases"],"related":[],"cancers":["melanoma"],"sections":[],"technologies":["checkpoint-inhibitor"],"targets":["lag3","pd1"],"drugs":["relatlimab-nivolumab","nivolumab","ipilimumab"],"companies":[],"institutions":["md-anderson"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["relativity-047","relativity-098"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-relativity-047-nejm-2022"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"role":"Professor and Deputy Chair, Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center","institutionId":"md-anderson","specialisms":["Melanoma","Brain metastases","LAG-3 blockade","Immunotherapy combinations"],"profiles":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Tawbi%20HA%5BAuthor%5D%20melanoma%20relatlimab%20OR%20brain"}],"papers":[{"title":"Relatlimab and nivolumab versus nivolumab in untreated advanced melanoma (RELATIVITY-047)","journal":"NEJM","year":2022,"doi":"10.1056/NEJMoa2109970"},{"title":"Combined nivolumab and ipilimumab in melanoma metastatic to the brain (CheckMate 204)","journal":"NEJM","year":2018,"doi":"10.1056/NEJMoa1805453"},{"title":"SARC028: pembrolizumab in advanced soft tissue and bone sarcoma","journal":"The Lancet Oncology","year":2017,"url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30624-1","doi":"10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30624-1"}]},"route":"/people/hussein-tawbi/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"advanced-melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Advanced melanoma (unresectable stage III and stage IV)","route":"/cancers/advanced-melanoma/"},{"id":"melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Melanoma","route":"/cancers/melanoma/"}],"technology":[{"id":"checkpoint-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"Immune checkpoint inhibitors","route":"/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/"}],"target":[{"id":"lag3","kind":"target","name":"LAG-3","route":"/targets/lag3/"},{"id":"pd1","kind":"target","name":"PD-1","route":"/targets/pd1/"}],"drug":[{"id":"ipilimumab","kind":"drug","name":"Ipilimumab","route":"/drugs/ipilimumab/"},{"id":"nivolumab","kind":"drug","name":"Nivolumab","route":"/drugs/nivolumab/"},{"id":"relatlimab-nivolumab","kind":"drug","name":"Relatlimab + nivolumab","route":"/drugs/relatlimab-nivolumab/"}],"institution":[{"id":"md-anderson","kind":"institution","name":"MD Anderson Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/md-anderson/"}],"trial":[{"id":"checkmate-204","kind":"trial","name":"CheckMate 204","route":"/trials/checkmate-204/"},{"id":"relativity-047","kind":"trial","name":"RELATIVITY-047","route":"/trials/relativity-047/"},{"id":"relativity-098","kind":"trial","name":"RELATIVITY-098","route":"/trials/relativity-098/"},{"id":"sarc028","kind":"trial","name":"SARC028","route":"/trials/sarc028/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-relativity-047-nejm-2022","kind":"paper","name":"RELATIVITY-047: relatlimab plus nivolumab, the first LAG-3 checkpoint combination, in untreated advanced melanoma","route":"/key-papers/paper-relativity-047-nejm-2022/"}]}}