Adjuvant Whole-Brain RT Does Not Improve Outcomes in Melanoma Brain Mets

Source: ASCO Daily News, September 2019

Results from a phase III international trial have shown that adjuvant whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) does not improve outcomes in patients with melanoma brain metastases. In comparing WBRT with observation, the study found no significant difference in intracranial control, overall survival (OS), or cognitive performance (Abstract 9500).

Angela Hong, MBBS, PhD, of Melanoma Institute Australia, presented the study’s findings on June 4 at the ASCO Annual Meeting. She said the previous WBRT trials included patients with mixed cancer histology, of which only approximately 5% were patients with metastatic melanoma. “We conducted this randomized trial to define the role of adjuvant WBRT specifically for patients with [metastatic melanoma],” she said.

The trial compared adjuvant WBRT to observation after local treatment of one to three melanoma brain metastases and enrolled 215 patients with melanoma brain metastases from three countries (Australia, United Kingdom, and Norway). The patients were randomly assigned to one of two treatment arms: observation (108) or WBRT (107). A total of 207 patients were included in primary endpoint analysis. Patient characteristics in the two arms were well matched (observation vs. WBRT: 67.3% vs. 66.0% male, 64 vs. 63 years old).

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