Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40028330›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in immunology2025

Presence of brain metastasis differentially impacts long-term survival after first-line therapy in melanoma depending on BRAF mutation status.

Jan-Malte Placke, Luisa Sophie Rajcsanyi, Rudolf Herbst, Patrick Terheyden, Jochen Utikal, Claudia Pföhler, Alexander Kreuter, Peter Mohr, Ralf Gutzmer, Michael Weichenthal and 13 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

23 authors.

Jan-Malte PlackeDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Luisa Sophie RajcsanyiSection of Molecular Genetics in Mental Disorders, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Rudolf HerbstDepartment of Dermatology, Helios Klinikum Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany.
Patrick TerheydenDepartment of Dermatology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
Jochen UtikalSkin Cancer Unit, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
Claudia PföhlerDepartment of Dermatology, Saarland University Medical School, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
Alexander KreuterDepartment of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, HELIOS St. Elisabeth Klinik Oberhausen, University Witten-Herdecke, Oberhausen, Germany.
Peter MohrDepartment of Dermatology, Elbe Kliniken Buxtehude, Buxtehude, Germany.
Ralf GutzmerDepartment of Dermatology, Skin Cancer Center Minden, Minden, Germany.
Michael WeichenthalDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany.
Friedegund MeierDepartment of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Carola BerkingDepartment of Dermatology, Uniklinikum Erlangen, CCC Erlangen - EMN, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.
Ulrike LeiterDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Johanna SeierDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Frederik KreftingDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Alpaslan TasdoganDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Georg C LoddeDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Elisabeth LivingstoneDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Lisa ZimmerDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Alexander RoeschDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Klaus GriewankDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Dirk SchadendorfDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Selma UgurelDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Modern therapeutic strategies have significantly improved the prognosis of advanced melanoma patients. Predictive factors of therapy response include serum LDH; however, predictive markers for long-term survival are currently largely lacking. Patients and methods: Patients diagnosed with stage IV melanoma (AJCCv8) of cutaneous origin or unknown primary were identified from the prospective multicenter German Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group (DeCOG) skin cancer registry ADOREG. Baseline characteristics were compared between patient groups with short-term versus long-term survival. Statistical analysis included ROC analysis and multinomial regression analysis. Results: Of 3066 stage IV melanoma patients entered into the ADOREG between 05/2014 and 06/2021, 395 were identified for this study, of whom 301 (76.2%) survived ≤1 year, and 94 (23.8%) survived ≥5 years after stage IV diagnosis. The median follow-up time was 6 months (range 0-129 months). Regarding the baseline characteristics, only elevated serum LDH (P <0.001) was found to be independently predicting survival ≤1 year. Type of first-line therapy, immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) versus BRAF/MEK targeted therapy (TT), was not predictive of long-term survival ≥5 years. For survival ≤1 year, the presence of brain metastases at treatment start was an independent predictor in BRAF-mutated patients regardless if they received TT (N=113; P=0<0.001) or ICI (N=69; P=0.015), but not in BRAF-wildtype patients who received ICI (N=161; P=0.47). Conclusions: Low serum LDH independently predicts long-term survival of stage IV melanoma patients in every subgroup of treatment type and BRAF status. Brain metastasis has a negative impact on long-term survival in BRAF-mutated, but not in BRAF-wildtype patients. Investigation of molecular features of brain metastases in BRAF-mutated vs. BRAF-wildtype melanomas may lead to new insights in tumor biology and may yield new therapeutic approaches.

Indexed as

Brain NeoplasmsMelanomaMutationProto-Oncogene Proteins B-rafSkin NeoplasmsAdultAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansL-Lactate DehydrogenaseMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisProspective StudiesBRAF protein, humanL-Lactate DehydrogenaseProto-Oncogene Proteins B-rafBRAFbrain metastasesimmune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)long-term survivalmelanomatargeted therapy

Identifiers

PMID40028330
PMCPMC11868123

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.