Real-world treatment patterns in stage III and IV melanoma patients: insights from a global multi-center chart review study.

Authors

Miso Kim, Elizabeth M Gaughan, Agueda Azpeitia, Aparna Rao, Maria L Wei, Alexandra So, Xiaochen Zhong, Carola Berking, Ruixuan Jiang, Stéphane Dalle, Caroline Robert, Salma Alam, Tessa Davies, Dirk Debus, Marcin Dzienis, Sarah Danson, Ricky Frazer, Christoffer Gebhardt, Glenn Geidel, Jessica C Hassel, Inga Hansen, Markus V Heppt, Lina Hildebrandt, James Isaacs, Koung Jin Suh, Bhumsuk Keam, Yu Jung Kim, Thierry Lesimple, Phillipe Saiag, Ryan Weight, Alicia Delibes, Rosemarie Barnett, Clemens Krepler, Kavita Gandhi, Nawab Qizilbash, Irene Shui, Xiang-Lin Tan, Ryan J Sullivan

Published in

Frontiers in immunology. Volume 17. Pages 1813387. Epub Jul 23, 2026.

Abstract

Anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors have substantially changed melanoma management in both the adjuvant and advanced settings. This study aimed to estimate the percentage of stage III and IV melanoma patients exposed to different therapies and describe treatment patterns among anti-PD-1-treated patients.
We performed a retrospective chart review across 22 centers in Australia, France, Germany, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Two patient populations were analyzed: (1) an aggregate cohort with stage III/IV melanoma (2018-2021), and (2) patients who received anti-PD-1 therapy in adjuvant or advanced settings from January 2018-12 months before data collection. Treatment patterns were evaluated.
In the aggregate cohort (N = 16,260), observation/watchful waiting predominated in stage III patients (56.8%) in the adjuvant setting, whereas systemic therapy was most common for stage IV disease in the advanced setting. In the anti-PD-1 cohort (N = 738), anti-PD-1 monotherapy predominated in the adjuvant setting (97.5%), while both anti-PD-1 monotherapy (63.1%) and anti-PD-1 plus anti-CTLA-4 (36.9%) were commonly used in the advanced setting. Across successive lines of therapy, anti-PD-1-based regimens remained frequently used despite substantial attrition between treatment lines. Disease progression was the leading cause of treatment discontinuation in advanced disease.
This real-world study highlights the central role of anti-PD-1 therapy across disease stages. Anti-PD-1 retreatment and reuse of anti-PD-1-based regimens were frequently observed across treatment lines, highlighting the limited availability of established post-anti-PD-1 treatment options. Novel strategies are urgently needed for patients progressing after anti-PD-1 therapy.

PMID:
42564088
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.