Pembrolizumab Plus Bevacizumab Shows Promise for Melanoma Brain Metastases
Source: Targeted Oncology, March 2025
The anti–PD-1/VEGF combination of pembrolizumab and bevacizumab elicited strong clinical activity in patients with melanoma brain metastases.
Anti-VEGF therapy with bevacizumab (Avastin) may enhance the clinical activity of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in patients with untreated melanoma brain metastases (MBM), according to findings from a phase 2 study (NCT02681549) published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The combination led to a brain metastasis response rate—the primary end point of the study—of 54.1% (95% CI, 36.9-70.5) and an extracranial response rate of 56.3% (95% CI, 37.7-73.6). The median intracranial progression-free survival (PFS) was 2.2 years (95% CI, 0.41 to not reached [NR]), and the median overall survival (OS) was 4.3 years (95% CI, 1.6-NR). The 4-year OS rate with the combination was 51.6%.