Dr. Hamid on the Inclusion of Patients With Brain Metastases on Melanoma Trials

Omid Hamid, MD, director of Research and Immuno-Oncology at The Angeles Clinic, discusses the inclusion of patients with brain metastases on melanoma clinical trials.

A retrospective analysis was done in patients with metastatic melanoma treated with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) on the KEYNOTE-001, -002, and -006 trials looking at the outcomes of those who came onto the study with stable brain metastases compared with those who did not have brain metastases. Findings showed that patients who came on the study with stable brain metastases did just as well as patients on the study who did not have brain metastases.

Hamid says that these findings show that these patients with brain metastases can be accrued onto clinical trials along with those who do not have brain metastases. The field has moved a little further, he adds, and now patients with untreated unstable brain metastases are being looked at. However, the majority of patients in the community with brain metastases will be treated, and therefore will be deemed fit for clinical trial evaluation as supported by the findings in this analysis.