Study Moves the Needle for Melanoma Patients with Rare BRAF Mutations

Source: Cancer Network, November 2019

BRAF and MEK inhibitors appear to have clinical activity in patients with metastatic melanoma with rare BRAF mutations, according to the results of a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Currently, BRAF and MEK inhibitors are approved for metastatic melanoma patients with V600E or V600K BRAF mutations, the more common BRAF mutations.

“The best evidence would be a randomized trial, but given the rarity of these mutations, it’s difficult to accrue enough patients to really get some adequate data to power the trial,” said Daniel Wang, MD, assistant professor of medicine – medical oncology at Baylor College of Medicine and member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center in Houston, during an interview with CancerNetwork ®. “While this is retrospective, I think it’s probably the most reasonable way to generate some information about this rare population.”

Wang, who was not involved in the study, said that the main evidence for these targeted therapies in metastatic melanoma patients with rare BRAF mutations has been case reports or case series.