Beta blockers may improve response to immunotherapy in metastatic melanoma

Source: Healio, March 2018

Patients with metastatic melanoma who underwent treatment with immunotherapy derived a benefit when they also received beta blockers, according to study results.
Todd Schell, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology at Penn State College of Medicine, and colleagues hypothesized that the stress-reducing properties of beta blockers may add to the benefits of immunotherapy for this patient population.
Researchers retrospectively assessed 195 patients with metastatic disease and observed a significant survival benefit among those treated with both immunotherapy and beta blockers.