Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study is to review the response rate and survival outcomes of patients with stage IV melanoma treated with pembrolizumab in our center.

Methods: Patients with pathologically confirmed metastatic melanoma referred to our center from 2015 to 2017 and treated with pembrolizumab were included in this study. Follow-up consisted of clinical evaluation and FDGPET scans every 3-months. The primary outcome was the response rate of pembrolizumab. Secondary outcomes included Overall Survival (OS), Progression-Free Survival (PFS), and adverse events of pembrolizumab. Long term outcomes of patients attaining complete response for which pembrolizumab was discontinued were also analyzed. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests were used to calculate OS and PFS.

Results: A total of 23 patients were included in the study; 7 patients had a BRAF mutation, 16 patients received The median number of pembrolizumab cycles to achieve a Complete Response (CR) was 11 cycles. Median OS and PFS were 60 months and 28 months, respectively, with a median follow-up of 27 months. At the time of data collection, 16 patients were alive and 11 of them disease free. Grade 3 and 4 adverse events occurred in less than 13% of the patients. There were no reported pembrolizumab adverse events leading to death.

Conclusion: Our results confirmed the previously reported high response rates and complete responses of pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic melanoma. Patients with CR in whom treatment was discontinued remained disease-free for the duration of our follow-up.

Keywords: Melanoma; Metastatic; Pembrolizumab; Anti-PD1