Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy Represents an Improved Option for Resectable Melanoma
Source: Onc Live, December 2022
The survival benefit displayed with the administration of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) prior to and after resection in the phase 2 SWOG S1801 trial (NCT03698019) showed that the addition of immunotherapy prior to surgery represents a practice-changing option for patients with high-risk melanoma, according to Anna Pavlick, DO, MBA, who added that data also continue to point to immunotherapy as the optimal frontline treatment for those in the metastatic setting.
“[It is important] to think of immunotherapy first and know that immunotherapy is going to provide patients with the highest chance of long-term, durable responses. When you have a patient who presents with bulky but resectable disease, think about giving them [neoadjuvant] immunotherapy before taking them to the operating room. Immunotherapy prior to surgery is really going to change their outcome,” Pavlick explained in an interview with OncLive® following a State of the Science Summit™ on melanoma, which she chaired.
In the interview, Pavlick discussed key updates from clinical trials that continue to shape the treatment of patients with melanoma, the role of immunotherapy in the frontline setting, and the importance of toxicity management and patient support. Pavlick is a professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, and the director of the Cutaneous Oncology Program at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, New York.