Cutaneous Adverse Reactions and Survival Outcomes of Advanced Melanoma Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in an Academic Medical Centre in Singapore

Programmed cell death-1 (PD1) inhibitors, a form of immune checkpoint inhibitor, are efficacious for metastatic melanoma but are associated with cutaneous adverse reactions (CARs). Studies in Europe and North America showed that CARs are associated with an increased overall survival. However, studies from Asia showed mixed results. There is a paucity of data regarding the efficacy of PD1 inhibitors and the effect of CARs on overall survival from Southeast Asia. A retrospective study of patients in the National Cancer Centre Singapore who were diagnosed with melanoma between 2015 and 2020 was conducted. Patients were included in the study if they had stage IV melanoma (advanced melanoma). Sixty-two patients were included in the study. The median age was 62.5 years and acral melanoma was the commonest subtype. Forty-three patients received PD1 inhibitors. Comparing patients who did not receive PD1 inhibitors to patients who received PD1 inhibitors, the former had a median overall survival of 6 months (95% CI: 5.07, 6.93), whereas the latter had a median overall survival of 21 months (95% CI: 13.33, 28.67; p < 0.001) (Hazard ratio 0.32; 95% CI: 0.16, 0.63; p = 0.001). Amongst patients who received PD1 inhibitors, patients who developed CARs had a greater median overall survival of 33 months (95% CI: 17.27, 48.73) compared to 15 months (95% CI: 9.20, 20.80; p = 0.013) for patients who did not (HR 0.29; 95% CI: 0.098, 0.834; p = 0.022). This study provides insight into the outcomes of metastatic melanoma in Singapore, and adds to the body of evidence supporting the use of PD1 inhibitors in Asians.