Quantifying the efficacy-effectiveness gap in first line treatment of metastatic melanoma

Clicks: 1
ID: 317663
2026
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal

Ranked #307 of 331 articles by views in JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 331 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Abstract
Abstract Purpose Pivotal phase III trials underpin regulatory approval of immunotherapy (IO) and BRAF/MEK inhibitors (BRAF/MEKi) in metastatic melanoma (MM). However, how trial-derived efficacy benchmarks translate into real-world effectiveness across eligibility strata remains insufficiently quantified. Methods We conducted a nationwide registry-based cohort study using the Danish Metastatic Melanoma Database, including patients with stage IV MM treated in first line with anti-PD-1 monotherapy, anti-PD-1/anti-CTLA-4, or BRAF/MEKi between 2014 and 2023. Real-world outcomes were compared with reconstructed pseudo-individual patient data from pivotal trials as regulatory efficacy benchmarks. Trial eligibility was defined using key exclusion criteria from pivotal studies. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and melanoma-specific survival (MSS) were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression methods. Results Among 1909 patients, 41.7-44.9% of IO-treated and 74.3% of BRAF/MEKi-treated patients were trial-ineligible. In eligible populations, IO outcomes mirrored regulatory benchmarks. In contrast, trial-ineligible patients experienced substantial effectiveness deviations, with significantly higher mortality hazards for anti-PD-1 monotherapy (OS HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.39-1.86; p < 0.001) and nivolumab/ipilimumab (OS HR 1.30, 95% CI 1.02-1.66; p = 0.035) compared to their reference trials. For BRAF/MEKi, real-world outcomes were inferior to regulatory benchmarks even among trial-eligible patients and were markedly worse in trial-ineligible populations, with hazard ratios >2.5 across OS, MSS, and PFS (all p < 0.001). Conclusion Real-world effectiveness of first-line therapies in MM deviates from regulatory trial benchmarks in trial-ineligible populations, with larger discrepancies for BRAF/MEKi than IO. These findings support population-specific effectiveness evaluation to complement trial-based efficacy estimates and inform health-technology assessment and clinical decision-making.
Reference Key
openalex_W7165039504 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Yago Garitaonaindía, A.A. Luczak, Christina H. Ruhlmann, S.K. Petersen, Rasmus Blechingberg Friis, Troels Holz Borch, Louise Mahncke Guldbrandt, Inge Marie Svane, Henrik Schmidt, Lars Bastholt, Eva Ellebæk, Marco Donia
Journal JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jnci/djag196
URL
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.