Observational studyRadiology and oncology2020
Retrospective analysis of treatment-naive Slovenian patients with metastatic melanoma treated with pembrolizumab - real-world experience.
Observational study in Radiology and oncology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Systematic literature review of real-world evidence on overall survival in cancer patients before and after the approval of anti-PD-(L)1 therapy.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Immune-Related Adverse Events Associated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Scoping Review.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Real-World Outcomes of Pembrolizumab in Advanced Melanoma by Age and Sex: A National Population-Based Study.Targeted oncology · 2025Article
- LASSO-Driven Selection of Biochemical and Clinical Markers for Primary Resistance to PD-1 Inhibitors in Metastatic Melanoma.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Comparative Meta-Analysis of Survival, Risk, and Treatment Efficacy in Immunotherapy for Metastatic Melanoma Using Random-, Fixed-, and Mixed-Effects Models.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Early-time-pointRadiology and oncology · 2025Article
- Biomarkers for Outcome in Metastatic Melanoma in First Line Treatment with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.Biomedicines · 2023Article
- Early Effects of Nivolumab and Ipilimumab Combined Immunotherapy in the Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma in Poland: A Multicenter Experience.Biomedicines · 2022Article
- Article
- Article
- Adverse events during immunotherapy in Slovenian patients with metastatic melanoma reveal a positive correlation with better treatment outcomes.Radiology and oncology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background Based on recent data from clinical trials, the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab prolongs survival and has a good toxicity profile in patients with advanced or metastatic melanoma. However, the question remains whether these results are transmitted into daily clinical practice. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and toxicity of pembrolizumab in treatment-naive patients with metastatic melanoma in everyday clinical practice in Slovenia and compare it to the results from clinical trials. Patients and methods This observational retrospective cohort study included 138 consecutive metastatic treatment-naive melanoma patients treated with pembrolizumab at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana in Slovenia, from January 2016 to December 2018. Patient and treatment characteristics were retrospectively collected from hospital data base. Statistical data was obtained using the SPSS software version 22. Survival rate was calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method. Observation period took place between January 2016 and the end of June 2019. Results The estimated median overall survival (OS) was 25.1 months (95% CI, 14.6-35.6) and the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 10.7 months (95% CI, 5.9-15.4). Among all patients, 29 (21.0%) achieved complete response, 31 (22.5%) partial response and 23 (16.7%) reached stable disease. The number of organs with metastatic involvement and the level of baseline lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) concentration had significant influence on survival rates. Immune-related adverse events (irAE) were reported in 88 (63%) patients, while grade 3-4 irAE occurred in 12 (8.7%). Due to toxicity, 16 (11.6%) patients discontinued the treatment. Conclusions Our real-world data from single centre retrospective analysis of treatment-naive metastatic melanoma patients treated with pembrolizumab showed inferior median OS and similar median PFS, compared to the results from clinical trials. However, patients with normal serum levels of LDH and a small number of organs with metastatic involvement had comparable survival outcomes. Toxicity rates of pembrolizumab were quite similar. These results further support the use of pembrolizumab for metastatic treatment-naive melanoma patients.
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