Five-year survival with neoadjuvant therapy in melanoma: updated pooled analysis from the International Neoadjuvant Melanoma Consortium (INMC).

Five-year survival rates with neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors reach up to 87.5% in melanoma, significantly outperforming targeted therapies and combination regimens.

• Why it matters: Understanding long-term outcomes of neoadjuvant therapies in melanoma is crucial to optimize treatment strategies and improve patient survival, especially given existing knowledge gaps about subgroup responses and optimal management.
• What they did: The study pooled data from 1,038 patients across 26 international sites, analyzing outcomes like major pathological response, recurrence-free survival, and overall survival for various neoadjuvant treatments, including PD-1 alone, PD-1 plus immuno-oncology agents, BRAF/MEK inhibitors, and combination therapies.
• The result: Neoadjuvant ICIs, especially PD-1 combined with IO, yielded high 5-year survival rates and were particularly effective in patients achieving major pathological response, highlighting their potential as a standard approach and the need for biomarker-driven personalized strategies.