Pembrolizumab and Bevacizumab in Untreated Melanoma Brain Metastases
Source: The Asco Post, March 2025
In a phase II trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Weiss et al found that the combination of pembrolizumab and bevacizumab was active in patients with previously untreated melanoma brain metastases.
Study Details
In the trial, 37 patients, enrolled at Yale Cancer Center and Moffitt Cancer Center between August 2016 and February 2023, were treated with pembrolizumab at 200 mg every 3 weeks and bevacizumab at 7.5 mg/kg every 3 weeks for four cycles followed by pembrolizumab at 200 mg every 3 weeks for up to 24 months. Patients had received no prior PD-L1 inhibitor treatment and had ? 1 asymptomatic nonhemorrhagic 5–20-mm melanoma brain metastases that did not require immediate local therapy or steroids.
Key Findings
The brain metastasis objective response rate was 54.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 36.9%–70.5%). Higher pretreatment vessel density in the metastatic tumors and smaller on-therapy increases in circulating angiopoietin-2 were associated with objective response. The extracranial objective response rate was 56.3% (95% CI = 37.7%–73.6%).