ArticleEClinicalMedicine2024
When to stop immunotherapy for advanced melanoma: the emulated target trials.
Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio for prognostication in immune checkpoint inhibitor-treated cancer patients: a meta-analysis of 13027 patients highlighting nivolumab-responsive renal cell carcinoma.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Pooled it
- [Could the administration of immune checkpoint inhibitors be discontinued after 2 years of application? Pros and cons for the development of a national guideline.]Magyar onkologia · 2026Review
- Should Fertility Preservation Be Offered to Young Women with Melanoma Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors? A SWOT Analysis.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Review
- Barriers to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Access for Patients With Cancer in Southeast Asia: Challenges and Policy Implications.JCO global oncology · 2025Article
- Review
- Association of heightened host and tumor immunity with prolonged duration of response to checkpoint inhibition across solid tumors.Scientific reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
23 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have demonstrated their efficacy with a 7.5-year overall survival (OS) close to 50% for advanced stages. The design of clinical trials provides for treatment until progression or toxicity, or for a maximum duration of two years. Prolonged follow-up of responders after treatment cessation shows sustained response and a low risk of relapse in the months following cessation. To date, the optimal duration of anti-PD-1 therapy for metastatic melanoma remains unestablished. The objective of this work was to evaluate the optimal duration of ICI administration. Methods: We emulated target trials using the cloning, weighting and censoring approach. Each emulation trial aimed to compare the effect of discontinuing versus continuing ICIs at a specific timepoint, among patients still under treatment and with disease control at that time. Patients were from MelBase between 2015 and 2021. Findings: 435 participants in the MelBase cohort were eligible and were included in the 6-month discontinuation emulated trial. The results showed significantly lower OS when treatment was discontinued, than when treatment was prolonged for at least three months. The 48-month survival difference was 37.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 19.8-60.5), and the corresponding restricted mean survival time difference was 8.3 months (95% CI: 4.1-12.7). Neither the 12-month nor the 18-month discontinuation emulated trials showed evidence of benefit of either discontinuing or continuing ICIs at either of these timepoints. The 24-month discontinuation emulated trial results were more in favor of discontinuing than continuing treatment at that time point, with an absolute 48-month survival rate that was 10.5% higher (95% CI 4.4-18.1). Interpretation: These results suggest that a one-year course of immunotherapy is both necessary and sufficient for patients with advanced melanoma. Prolonged treatment beyond 2 years does not appear to be beneficial in terms of survival and could even be detrimental. Funding: This work was supported by a grant from Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck Sharp Dhome, Pierre Fabre, Novartis, Sun Pharm, Regeneron, Sanofi, Nektar, Therapeutics and Oncyte.
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Registered trials
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 Socratic graph.