Combination Immunotherapy Shows Promise in Curing Deadly Skin Cancer

New Delhi: A clinical trial has revealed that combination immunotherapy may help cure a majority of patients with melanoma that has spread to the brain. The seven-year follow-up results, published in Lancet Oncology, indicate that more than half of patients who received combination immunotherapy as their first-line treatment achieved long-term disease control.

Melanoma, a highly aggressive form of skin cancer, becomes particularly lethal when it spreads to the brain, affecting 30-40% of Stage 4 melanoma patients. Currently, individuals with brain metastases have a median survival of just 16 weeks. However, the trial findings suggest that combination immunotherapy could dramatically improve these outcomes.

According to Professor Georgina Long AO, Medical Director of the Melanoma Institute Australia and lead author of the study, the therapy significantly increased survival rates. "This proves we have achieved long-term disease control in this group of advanced melanoma patients," she stated, adding that researchers are now confident that many of these patients are effectively cured—a term rarely used in oncology. She emphasized that this treatment should become the new standard of care for melanoma patients with brain metastases.

The phase 2 randomized trial, conducted between 2014 and 2017, involved 79 patients. Among them, 36 received combination checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy (a combination of anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 therapies), while 43 were given single-agent immunotherapy (nivolumab).

The seven-year results showed that the progression-free survival rate for patients receiving the combination treatment was 42%, compared to just 15% for those treated with nivolumab alone. Similarly, overall survival rates were significantly higher at 48% for the combination therapy group versus 26% for the single-agent group.

Among patients who received the combination treatment as their first-line therapy, the benefits were even more pronounced. The progression-free survival rate reached 47%, compared to 14% for single-agent therapy, while overall survival improved to 51% versus 29%.

These findings highlight the potential of combination immunotherapy to transform melanoma treatment, offering hope for long-term survival in patients who previously faced dire prognoses.