Adjuvant nodal radiation therapy for melanoma in the era of immunotherapy

In the last few years there have been dramatic changes in the management of melanoma patients with locally advanced disease. Previously, standard therapy for melanoma patients with nodal disease involved completion lymph node dissection followed by adjuvant radiation therapy for high risk features, as defined by TROG 02.01. Adjuvant systemic therapy with interferon could be offered but many eligible patients did not receive this agent in the context of significant toxicity. New, effective and often well-tolerated systemic therapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted MAPK pathway inhibitors have shown impressive responses in metastatic disease and are now being applied to the locally advanced setting.

Source: International Journal of Radiation Oncology * Biology * Physics - June 12, 2020 Category: Radiology Authors: Devarati Mitra, Andrew Bishop, B. Ashleigh Guadagnolo Source Type: research