Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42101794›Full record

ArticleTargeted oncology2026

Indirect Comparison of the Efficacy of Pembrolizumab Versus Nivolumab as Adjuvant Options for Stage IIB/IIC Melanoma.

Dimitrios A Andreikos, Iro Argyropoulou, Charalampos Theocharopoulos, Amalia Anastasopoulou, Dimitra Stefanou, Giorgos Lyrarakis, Dirk Schadendorf, Helen Gogas, Dimitrios C Ziogas

Abstract readComparative Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Targeted oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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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

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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Dimitrios A AndreikosFirst Department of Internal Medicine, Laikon General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens-School of Medicine, Athens, Greece.
Iro ArgyropoulouFirst Department of Internal Medicine, Laikon General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens-School of Medicine, Athens, Greece.
Charalampos TheocharopoulosDepartment of Surgery, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.
Amalia AnastasopoulouFirst Department of Internal Medicine, Laikon General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens-School of Medicine, Athens, Greece.
Dimitra StefanouFirst Department of Internal Medicine, Laikon General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens-School of Medicine, Athens, Greece.
Giorgos LyrarakisFirst Department of Internal Medicine, Laikon General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens-School of Medicine, Athens, Greece.
Dirk SchadendorfDepartment for Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Helen GogasFirst Department of Internal Medicine, Laikon General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens-School of Medicine, Athens, Greece.
Dimitrios C ZiogasFirst Department of Internal Medicine, Laikon General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens-School of Medicine, Athens, Greece. ziogasdc@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2620-4004

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAdjuvant anti-PD-1 therapy improves outcomes in resected stage IIB/IIC melanoma at high risk of recurrence; however, no randomized head-to-head trial has directly compared pembrolizumab with nivolumab.

objectiveThe objective was to compare the efficacy of pembrolizumab and nivolumab as adjuvant therapies in resected stage IIB/IIC melanoma using an indirect treatment comparison (ITC). PATIENTS AND

methodsAn anchored Bucher ITC was performed linking the results of KEYNOTE-716 and the CheckMate-76K trials. Primary analyses used the most recent follow-up hazard ratios (HRs), with secondary analyses based on the original trial publications.

resultsThe ITC showed no statistically significant differences between pembrolizumab and nivolumab for recurrence-free survival (RFS; HR 0.97, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.69-1.35) or distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS; HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.54-1.21). Subgroup analyses for RFS were also nonsignificant: stage IIB HR 0.97, 95% CI 0.62-1.50; stage IIC HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.61-1.65; age < 65 years HR 1.20, 95% CI 0.76-1.89; and age ≥ 65 years HR 0.77, 95% CI 0.47-1.25. Secondary analyses based on the original trial publications yielded nonsignificant estimates that numerically favored nivolumab, with RFS HR 1.48 (95% CI 0.98-2.23) and DMFS HR 1.26 (95% CI 0.74-2.13).

conclusionsThis ITC demonstrated no statistically significant differences between pembrolizumab and nivolumab for RFS or DMFS in resected stage IIB/IIC melanoma, with consistently null findings across subgroup analyses. Longer follow-up attenuated earlier numerical trends, with effect estimates converging toward unity.

Indexed as

Antibodies, Monoclonal, HumanizedAntineoplastic Agents, ImmunologicalMelanomaNivolumabSkin NeoplasmsChemotherapy, AdjuvantFemaleHumansMaleNeoplasm StagingAntibodies, Monoclonal, HumanizedAntineoplastic Agents, ImmunologicalNivolumabpembrolizumab

Identifiers

PMID42101794
PMCPMC13222263

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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.