Teresa Amaral: Adjuvant Treatment for Stage III BRAF V600-Mutated Melanoma
Teresa Amaral, Consultant Medical Oncologist and the Head of Skin Cancer Clinical Trials Center at the Tuebingen University Hospital, shared an article on LinkedIn:
“Adjuvant Treatment for Stage III BRAF V600-Mutated Melanoma.
The optimal adjuvant therapy for patients with stage III BRAF V600-mutated melanoma remains a timely question. Real-world data (RWD) may provide valuable insights since there are no head-to-head comparison studies and these will most likely not be available in the future.
Key Findings from this publication:
- Targeted therapy (TT) with BRAF/MEK inhibitors shows better relapse-free survival (RFS) than immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) at different time points.
- TT also demonstrates a trend toward improved distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) compared to ICI.
- Overall survival (OS) differences between TT and ICI remain inconclusive, requiring further investigation.
- ICI toxicity can lead to lifelong organ dysfunction, whereas TT-related adverse events are often reversible.
- Quality of life (QoL) studies suggest that TT may be more favorable compared to ICI.
Take-Home Messages:
- TT may offer superior short- and mid-term disease control in adjuvant setting for BRAF V600-mutant melanoma.
- Choosing between TT & ICI requires careful consideration of long-term toxicity and patient QoL.
- Further long-term follow-up & biomarker research are needed to refine treatment selection.
Study Limitations & Advantages
Limitations:
- Heterogeneity in real-world data: Differences in patient populations and study methodologies across the included publications may introduce bias.
- No statistical comparison: Due to the variability in study designs, the study relies on descriptive analysis rather than direct statistical tests.
Advantages:
- Large patient dataset: Analysis includes 3,625 patients, providing a broad overview of real-world outcomes.
- Consistent trends across studies: Despite differences in data sources, Kaplan-Meier survival curves align well, reinforcing the reliability of findings.
The findings underscore ongoing RWD analysis’s importance in guiding evidence-based oncology practice.
On the RWD topic – ESMO – European Society for Medical Oncology has issued recommendations on how to report it.”
A comparison of real-world data on adjuvant treatment in patients with stage III BRAF V600 mutated melanoma – Results of systematic literature research.
Authors: Teresa Amaral, et al.
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