Ep 58: Best of 2024: SMR

SummaryFavorite holiday songs... perhaps unexpectedly one of our hosts faves is Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis ... guess which? In another Best of 2024 episode of Melanoma Matters, hosts Sapna Patel and James Larkin discuss key findings from the Society for Melanoma Research (SMR) meeting. They spotlight the TIL for CNS mets study, KEYMAKER U02 Substudy 02D, IMA203, KeyVibe, and the MERLIN 001 study. They emphasize the importance of understanding patient eligibility for clinical trials and the challenges of translating trial results to real-world patient care.Keywordsmelanoma, cellular therapy, brain metastases, clinical trials, treatment efficacy, sentinel lymph node biopsy, immunotherapy, melanoma research, patient care, oncologyTakeawaysThe pilot trial of life elusive cellular therapy shows feasibility and safety.Inclusion criteria for clinical trials often exclude real-world patients.KEYMAKER U02 Substudy 02D did not demonstrate significant activity in brain metastases.IMA203 is a non-surgical cellular therapy trial option for patients with advanced melanomaAdjuvant TIGIT plus PD-1 therapy is unlikely to be effective in melanoma (KeyVibe)Gene expression tests may not reliably identify patients who can forgo sentinel lymph node biopsies (MERLIN 001).Chapters00:00 Festive Greetings and Holiday Tunes02:44 TIL for CNS Mets09:04 KEYMAKER U02: Substudy 02D12:51 IMA20316:48 KeyVibe19:27 MERLIN 00123:28 Happy Holidays!