Abstract 763P
Background
Understanding the role of immunotherapy in adjuvant treatment of stage III melanoma is crucial for improving patient outcomes. Immunotherapy, including checkpoint inhibitors and adoptive cell therapy, has revolutionized melanoma management by enhancing the immune system's ability to target and eliminate cancer cells, potentially reducing recurrence and improving survival rates.
Methods
A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted by searching the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, MEDLINE (including MEDLINE InProcess) (OvidSP), Web of Science, Embase (OvidSP), and Scopus databases. The ROB2 Cochrane tool was used for assessing the risk of bias in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Data analysis was performed using RevMan Cochrane software.
Results
The meta-analysis included 15 studies with a total of 5,678 patients. The results demonstrate significantly improved outcomes in terms of patient survival rates, both progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), for immunotherapy over comparative treatments. The hazard ratio (HR) for PFS was 0.77 [95% CI: 0.61, 0.97], and for OS, it was 0.79 [95% CI: 0.70, 0.88]. The treatment response rate (TRR) was favorable for immunotherapy with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.34 [95% CI: 1.28, 4.28]. The relative risk (RR) for serious adverse events was 1.64 [95% CI: 1.14, 2.35] for immunotherapy compared to the current regimen. Immunotherapy also conferred a survival benefit, with the RR for all-cause mortality in the experimental group vs. the control being 0.86 [95% CI: 0.77, 0.96], which was statistically significant.
Conclusions
Immunotherapy is a promising adjuvant treatment for stage III melanoma, offering the potential to improve patient outcomes by bolstering the immune response against cancer cells. Further research and clinical trials are warranted to optimize its efficacy and safety.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.