Survival after introduction of adjuvant treatment for stage III melanoma in Sweden

Adjuvant treatments with PD-1 inhibitors or BRAF + MEK inhibitors significantly prolong recurrence-free survival in stage III cutaneous melanoma. Based on these observations, these treatments have been approved and widely implemented. The effect on overall survival is still unclear. A nationwide registry-based study in Sweden evaluated OS before and after introduction of adjuvant treatment for stage III melanoma (July 2018). Two-year OS rate was 84.3% in the pre-introduction cohort versus 86.1% in the post-introduction cohort (p=0.51). No significant differences in OS or melanoma specific-survival rates were seen between the cohorts in subgroups for age, sex, or tumor characteristics. The authors conclude that these findings encourage a careful assessment of the current recommendations on adjuvant treatment.