Medical Oncology

Melanoma/Skin Cancer   

Questions discussed in this category



The SWOG 1801 trial showed improved event-free survival (EFS) in patients receiving neoadjuvant pembrolizumab followed by 15 cycles of adjuvant pembro...

Very-low-risk stage IIIA disease includes non-ulcerated lesions, primary ≤2 mm thickness, SLN metastasis <1 mm. Per NCCN the toxicity of adjuvan...

The patient's current PET scan showed no systemic disease. Due to his age, there is a concern of whether the patient would tolerate dual immunotherapy...

Would you treat both at the same time? Does one need to be prioritized over the other? Does Xeloda have any efficacy against Merkel cell cancer? How...

Is there a potential role for concurrent radiation therapy? What if the tumor is BRAF mutated?

Which group of patients will benefit with observation versus adjuvant immunotherapy?

In patients with no apparent skin involvement but lymph-node showing basal cell carcinoma with extracapsular extension. Would this warrant radiation o...

Majority of patients on the seminal trial (Gross et al., PMID 36094839) had tumors isolated to head & neck, what was the rationale for this?

Do you base your decision on extent of residual disease?  Does the use of (neo)adjuvant immunotherapy have an impact on surgical site size or he...

CheckMate 511 trial showed reduced toxicity with flipped dosing of ipilimumab/ nivolumab (ipi 1 mg/kg and nivo 3 mg/kg instead of ipi 3 mg/kg and nivo...

How do you decide between starting infliximab, MMF, or IVIG? If a patient presents in respiratory failure (nearing or requiring intubation), woul...

What were your “top 3” presentations/studies coming out of the meeting this year and how will it impact your own clinical practice...

Would you use immunosuppression in patients several years after curative treatment for melanoma?

In a patient who would be otherwise fit for surgery +/- adjuvant RT, and the delay is caused by COVID-related OR staffing issues, what would be your a...

This question arises from a case of a patient with multifocal nodular melanoma with circumferential involvement of the perianal region.

I am considering every 6 week pembrolizumab dosing in patients >70 years old in whom I want to reduce clinic visits for, especially in the context ...

Based on available results from the IMMUNED trial, which evaluated the role of adjuvant nivolumab/ipilimumab or nivolumab monotherapy vs placebo in re...

A patient with stage 3 melanoma on adjuvant nivolumab needs radioactive iodine for papillary thyroid cancer.

Patient is a  67yo with a pT1 (2.5mm) pN1a merkel cell of the chest, 1 mm deep, widely clear margins, SLN with 1.5mm met, 11 additional axillary ...

Would you offer nodal dissection and/or additional adjuvant immunotherapy in addition to wide local excision?

For instance, not chronic autoimmune diseases (eg RA, IBD) that may relapse/remit but events like Guillan Barre syndrome that is not likely to recur b...

With increasing utility of immunotherapy across cancer types, patients with history of solid organ transplants may face need for cancer IO. How do you...

The FDA has approved the new dosing schedule of Nivolumab 480 mg every 4 weeks for multiple disease sites (melanoma, RCC, urothelial carcinoma, SCC of...

Do you recommend or withhold influenza and pneumonia vaccines while on treatment with checkpoint inhibitors?

Patients with T3aN1a( stage IIIA per AJCC7) were excluded from nivolumab adjuvant trial. Would you consider nivolumab in these patients?

Checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated durable responses in clinical trials, which was never seen with cytotoxic chemotherapy in the past. What are t...

NCCN guidelines recommend both single agent Pembro and/or Ipi/Nivo as first line options. How would you choose between the two? In case of the latter,...

The FDA recently approved Braftovi (encorafenib) and Mektovi (binimetinib) in combination for unresectable or metastatic melanoma. When would they be ...

For example, would you consider this in a patient that would otherwise be eligible for adjuvant treatment (stage III or stage IV with oligometastatic ...

Can you extrapolate the data on Durable Complete Response After Discontinuation of Pembrolizumab in Patients With Metastatic Melanoma to patients on a...

In this study, doses of 2mg/kg Q3wks, 10mg/kg Q3wks and 10mg/kg Q2wks were used. What did the majority of these patients in CR receive? 

How do you treat these patients if they progress after immune checkpoint inhibitors?

Would your recommendation change at all depending on time to relapse or original stage of melanoma?

If staged so due to satellite lesion and negative nodes? How do you decide between adjuvant PD-1 inhibitor or BRAF/MEK inhibition in BRAF-mutated pati...

Assuming SRS to the resection cavity is advised, would you recommend early immunotherapy to improve outcomes/enhance a possible abscopal eff...

These patients have been largely excluded from these trials.  What if the infection is well controlled?

Would you ever considering re-starting immunotherapy before completing the taper? According to the new guildelines on managing immunotherapy related ...

Is the use of immunotherapy being considered, and if so, is the data extrapolated from treatment of mNSCLC and head and neck SCC?

Is there data for switching from nivolumab/ipilimumab to pembrolizumab if a patient develops significant pneumonitis but also had a significant radiog...

Can immune check point inhibitor be restarted if grade 4 hyperglycemia (with acidosis and insulin drip requirement) has resolved?

In a patient who already received 13 courses of radiation (with complete response), is there any other effective treatment?

Some medical oncologists tend to hold anticoagulation in patients who develop brain metastases for fear of causing intracranial hemorrhage.  Is t...

Would your recommendations change if it was a partial vs complete radiographic response?

What immunosuppressive agents are used and in what order?  Does your approach differ depending on the organ involved, e.g. colitis vs. pneumoniti...

Does the risk of severe inflammation of the liver lead you to choose other therapies in in this population?  What about in patients with mild liv...

Does the site of progression or response matter?  What if there is progression in the lungs but response in lymphadenopathy, for example?  

If these are presumed to be immune-mediated (e.g. immune neutropenia or immune thrombocytopenia), do you treat with steroids?

Is there any consensus regarding the optimal RT dose, fractionation, and timing to the best abscopal response? What is the optimal metastatic site to ...

Decrease the dose? Treatment break? Steroids?

With novel therapies quickly evolving, it's becoming more difficult to discern the proper sequence of therapies and the point at which a clinical tria...


Papers discussed in this category


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Eur. J. Cancer, 2016-02-01

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The New England journal of medicine, 2017-10-05

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The Lancet. Oncology, 2016-10

N Engl J Med, 2018 Apr 15

Lancet Oncol, 2022 Oct 18

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Journal for immunotherapy of cancer, 2019-06-06

J. Clin. Oncol., 2019 Feb 27

Melanoma research, 2015-04

Nature, 2018-01-18

Cureus, 2019 Jun 18

PloS one, 2015

Semin. Cancer Biol., 2019 Jul 19

J Natl Compr Canc Netw,

J. Clin. Oncol., 2019 Dec 27

Lancet (London, England), 2004-05-22

The Lancet. Oncology, 2016-07

International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics, 2018-03-15

The New England journal of medicine, 2018-08-23

Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2019-01-01

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Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol),

Lancet Oncol., 2018 Mar 27

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Cancer, 2016 Jun 10

International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics, 2017-11-15

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Neurosurgery, 2020 Apr 21

JAMA ophthalmology, 2016-08-01

N Engl J Med, 2022 Sep 12

Front Oncol, 2023 Jan 04

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N Engl J Med, 2019 Sep 28

Melanoma research, 2017-06

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Pathology, 2018 Nov 26

Semin Cancer Biol, 2019 Oct 23

Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2002-12-01

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Head Neck, 2021 Jun 07

Nature medicine, 2023 Aug 17

Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2023 Feb 13

Ann Pharmacother, 2021 Jul 20

Ann Transl Med,

Can Fam Physician,

J Clin Oncol, 2022 Sep 27

J Clin Oncol, 2022 Jan 14

Eur J Cancer, 2021 Nov 17

J Immunother Cancer, 2020 Dec

N Engl J Med,

Melanoma research, 2017-10

Cancer, 2011-04-15

Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2020 Sep 09

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American journal of clinical oncology, 2005-12

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The Laryngoscope, 1994-02

Oral and maxillofacial surgery, 2023 Apr 05

Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2018-05-01

Asia-Pacific journal of clinical oncology, 2020 Aug 05

Annals of surgical oncology, 2020 May 13

J Clin Oncol, 2020 Nov 20

Lancet Oncol, 2015 Mar 31

Lancet, 2022 Sep 10

Annals of surgery, 2006-12

Annals of surgical oncology, 2013-07

Annals of surgical oncology, 2010-01

Diseases of the colon and rectum, 1999-09

Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2006-09-10

Dermatol Pract Concept, 2019 Jan 31

Clin Cancer Res, 2013 Jul 05

Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2020 Oct 30

The Lancet. Oncology, 2019 May 31

Nature, 2022 Oct 26

Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2022 Dec 01

Cancer, 2023 Mar 04

Journal for immunotherapy of cancer, 2022 Aug

N Engl J Med, 2017 Jun 8

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2019 Dec 10

The oncologist, 2021 May 31