Health-related quality of life in patients with melanoma brain metastases treated with immunotherapy.

Aims: To describe the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of melanoma brain metastasis (MBM) patients throughout the first 18 weeks of ipilimumab-nivolumab or nivolumab treatment. Materials & methods: HRQoL data (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer's Core Quality of Life Questionnaire, additional Brain Neoplasm Module, and EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level Questionnaire) were collected as a secondary outcome of the Anti-PD1 Brain Collaboration phase II trial. Mixed linear modeling assessed changes over time, whereas the Kaplan-Meier method was used to determine median time to first deterioration.

Results

Asymptomatic MBM patients treated with ipilimumab-nivolumab (n = 33) or nivolumab (n = 24) maintained baseline HRQoL. MBM patients with symptoms or leptomeningeal/progressive disease treated with nivolumab (n = 14) reported a statistically significant trend toward improvement.

Conclusion

MBM patients treated with either ipilimumab-nivolumab or nivolumab did not report a significant deterioration in HRQoL within 18 weeks of treatment initiation. Clinical trial registration: NCT02374242 (ClinicalTrials.gov).