New Era in the Management of Melanoma Brain Metastases

Author(s):  
Hussein A. Tawbi ◽  
Celine Boutros ◽  
David Kok ◽  
Caroline Robert ◽  
Grant McArthur

The remarkable advances in the systemic therapy of metastatic melanoma have now extended the 1-year overall survival rate from 25% to nearing 85%. Systemic treatment in the form of BRAF-targeted therapy and immunotherapy is slowly but surely proving its efficacy in the treatment of metatstatic brain metastases (MBM). Single-agent BRAF inhibitors provide an intracranial response rate of 25% to 40%, whereas the combination of BRAFi/MEKi leads to responses in up to 58%. However, the durability of responses induced by BRAFi/MEKi seems to be even shorter than in extracranial disease. On the other hand, single-agent ipilimumab provides comparable clinical benefit in MBMs as it does in extracranial metastases. Single-agent PD-1 anitbodies induce response rates of approximately 20%, and those responses appear durable. Similarly the combination of CTLA-4+ PD-1 antibodies induces durable responses at an impressive rate of 55% and is safe to administer. Although the local treatment approaches with radiation and surgery remain important and are critically needed in the management of MBM, systemic therapy offers a new dimension that can augment the impact of those therapies and come at a potentially lower cost of neurocognitive impairment. Considerations for combining those modalities are direly needed, in addition to considering novel systemic combinations that target mechanisms specific to MBM. In this report, we will discuss the underlying biology of melanoma brain metastases, the clinical outcomes from recent clinical trials of targeted and immunotherapy, and their impact on clinical practice in the context of existing local therapeutic modalities.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Alhalabi ◽  
Zaid Soomro ◽  
Ryan Sun ◽  
Elshad Hasanov ◽  
Aya Albittar ◽  
...  

AbstractThe development of brain metastases (BMs) in breast cancer (BC) patients remains a challenging complication. Current clinical practice guidelines recommend local treatment of BMs without changing systemic therapy (CST) in patients with stable extracranial disease. We retrospectively investigated the impact of CST (when applicable as per treating physician’s discretion) following the diagnosis and management of oligometastatic (1–3) BMs in patients without extracranial metastases on the progression-free survival time (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard model. Among the 2645 patients with BC and BMs treated between 2002 and 2015, 74 were included for analysis. 40.5% of patients had HER2 + disease. Median time from diagnosis of BC to BMs was 17.6 months. 54%, 8%, and 38% of BMs were managed by radiation, craniotomy, or combination, respectively. Following the primary management of BMs, we observed that CST occurred in 26 (35.5%) patients, consisting of initiation of therapy in 13.5% and switching of ongoing adjuvant therapy in 22%. Median PFS was 6.6 months among patients who had CST compared to 7.1 months in those who did not (HR = 0.88 [0.52–1.47], p = 0.62). Median OS was 20.1 months among patients who had CST compared to 15.1 months in those who did not (HR = 0.68 [0.40–1.16], p = 0.16). Upon the successful local management of oligometastatic BMs in patients without extracranial disease, we did not find a significant difference in survival between patients who experienced a change in systemic therapy as compared to those who did not.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1090-1090
Author(s):  
Zaid A Soomro ◽  
Omar Alhalabi ◽  
Ryan Sun ◽  
Aya Albittar ◽  
Limin Hsu ◽  
...  

1090 Background: Despite advances in systemic therapies and improved overall survival of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients, the development of brain metastases (BMs) remains a challenging complication that affects quality of life and increases morbidity and mortality. Current clinical practice guidelines recommend local treatment of BMs without changing systemic therapy (CST) in patients with stable systemic disease. Methods: We retrospectively investigated the impact of CST (when applicable as per treating physician’s discretion) after diagnosis of the initial 1-3 BMs on the patient’s progression-free survival time (PFS), defined as time to death, to a second BMs or to extracranial metastases. All MBC patients with 1 to 3 BMs only (without extracranial disease) treated at our institution between 2002 and 2017 were identified. For each patient, full information on follow-up and administered therapies were mandatory for inclusion. Hazard ratios (HR) were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard model. We also computed the restricted mean survival time (RMST) up to 5 years of follow-up. Results: Among the 2645 patient with BM treated at our institution, 80 were included for analysis. In regards to primary BMs management in patients, 46 of 80 (57%) were treated by radiation therapy, 6 of 80 (7.5%) underwent surgical resection, and 28 of 80 (35%) were managed by a combination of surgery and radiation therapy. All patients had staging imaging documenting lack of extracranial metastases at the time of local therapy of BMs. Following the primary management of BM, we observed that providers changed systemic therapy in 32 of 80 (40%), defined as the CST group. CST included both initiation of therapy in 16 of 80 (20%) and switching of adjuvant therapy in 16 of 80 (20%). Median PFS among CST was 7.7 months vs. 7.2 months among no CST (HR = 0.855, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53-1.38, p = 0.52). 5-year RMST for the CST group was 16.6 months vs. 12.8 months in no CST group. The difference of 3.8 months (95% CI 4.3-11.8) was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Patients with 1-3 BMs without extracranial disease had a median PFS close to 7.5 months after local therapy. Consistent with current standard of care of maintaining the same systemic therapy approach upon developing isolated BMs, our findings did not demonstrate a significant difference in PFS between patients who experienced a change in systemic therapy compared to those who did not.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Carsten Nieder ◽  
Astrid Dalhaug ◽  
Ellinor Haukland

<b><i>Purpose:</i></b> The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with the initiation or continuation of systemic treatment after brain irradiation. The outcome of interest was a utilization rate of at least 75%, given that active extracranial disease is common in patients with brain metastases. If left untreated, extracranial disease limits survival, regardless of successful local treatment of the brain metastases. In this context, systemic therapy has been shown to improve survival, e.g., after whole-brain radiotherapy. <b><i>Patients and Methods:</i></b> The study included 185 patients with active extracranial disease, 60% of whom received systemic therapy. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Survival from the start of brain irradiation was longest in patients who received additional immune checkpoint inhibitors, endocrine treatment, or anti-HER-2 drugs. After uni- and multivariate analyses, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (PS) was selected as the first prediction criterion in the recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) decision tree analysis. RPA was successful for patients with PS 0–1, but patients with PS 2 had lower treatment utilization rates (maximum 60–70%, with a disease-dependent impact of age and LabBM score [blood test results]). The highest utilization rates were observed in (1) patients with PS 0 and (2) those with breast cancer, small-cell lung cancer, or lung adenocarcinoma with PS 1. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> These results inform the multidisciplinary discussion and treatment planning for the common scenario of simultaneous intra- and extracranial metastases.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii183-ii183
Author(s):  
Kevin Fan ◽  
Nafisha Lalani ◽  
Nathalie Levasseur ◽  
Andra Krauze ◽  
Lovedeep Gondara ◽  
...  

Abstract PURPOSE We aimed to investigate whether systemic therapy (ST) use around the time of brain radiotherapy (RT) predicts overall survival for patients with brain metastases (BM). We also aimed to validate the Diagnosis-Specific Graded Prognostic Assessment (DS-GPA) in a population-based cohort. METHODS We used provincial RT and pharmacy databases to retrospectively review all adult patients in British Columbia, Canada, who received a first course of RT for BMs between 2012 and 2016. We used a randomly selected subset with complete baseline data to develop a multivariate analysis (MVA)-based nomogram including ST use to predict survival after RT and to validate the DS-GPA. RESULTS In our 3095-patient cohort, the median overall survival (OS) of the 999 recipients of ST after RT was 5.0 months (CI 4.1-6.0) longer than the OS of the 2096 non-recipients of ST after RT (p&lt; 0.0001): targeted therapy (HR 0.42, CI 0.37-0.48), hormone therapy (HR 0.45, CI 0.36-0.55) and cytotoxic chemotherapy (HR 0.71, CI 0.64-0.79). The OS of patients who discontinued ST after RT was 0.9 months (CI 0.3-1.4) shorter than the OS of those who did not receive ST before nor after RT (p&lt; 0.0001). A MVA in the 200-patient subset demonstrated that the traditional baseline variables: cancer diagnosis, age, performance status, presence of extracranial disease, and number of BMs predicted survival, as did the novel variables: ST use before RT and ST use after RT. The MVA-based nomogram had a bootstrap-corrected Harrell’s Concordance Index of 0.70. In the 179 patients within this subset with DS-GPA-compatible diagnoses, the DS-GPA overestimated OS by 6.3 months (CI 5.3- 9.8) (p= 0.0006). CONCLUSIONS The type and timing of ST use around RT predict survival for patients with BMs. A novel baseline variable “ST planned after RT” should be prospectively collected to validate these findings in other cohorts.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1421-1454
Author(s):  
Kim Margolin ◽  
Michael Davies ◽  
Harriet Kluger ◽  
Hussein Tawbi

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Parris ◽  
Subhasree Basu ◽  
Thibaut Barnoud ◽  
Yongkang Zhao ◽  
Peter Somboonsong ◽  
...  

Cancer ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 125 (21) ◽  
pp. 3776-3789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliana Rulli ◽  
Lorenzo Legramandi ◽  
Lorenzo Salvati ◽  
Mario Mandala

Author(s):  
A Wolf ◽  
A Pavlick ◽  
M Wilson ◽  
J Silverman ◽  
D Kondziolka

Background: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of BRAF inhibitors on survival outcomes in patients receiving stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for melanoma brain metastases. Methods: We prospectively collected treatment outcomes for 80 patients with melanoma brain metastases who underwent SRS. Thirty-five patients harbored the BRAF mutation (BRAF-M) and 45 patients did not (BRAF-WT). Results: The median overall survival from first SRS procedure was 11.2 months if treated with a BRAF inhibitor and 4.5 months for BRAF-WT. Actuarial survival rates for BRAF-M patients on an inhibitor were 54% and 41% at 6 and 12 months after radiosurgery, in contrast to 28% and 19% for BRAF-WT. Overall survival was extended for patients on a BRAF inhibitor if initiated at or after the first SRS. The local control rate did not differ based on BRAF status and was over 90%. Patients with higher KPS, fewer treated metastases, controlled systemic disease, RPA class 1 and BRAF-M patients had extended overall survival. Conclusions: Patients with BRAF-M treated with both SRS and BRAF inhibitors, at or after SRS, have increased overall survival. As patients live longer due to more effective systemic and local therapies, close surveillance and early management of intracranial disease with SRS will become increasingly important.


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