Loading
Simply moving three doses of the same drug to before surgery improved outcomes, a result that changed how the field thinks about timing.
2-year EFS 72% vs 49% (HR 0.58), NEJM 2023. Same total drug exposure in both arms; the difference is attributed to priming the immune response while the tumour and its draining nodes are still present. Three-year follow-up presented at ESMO 2025 sustained the benefit. Together with NADINA it established neoadjuvant immunotherapy as standard for resectable stage III disease.
Numbers are from the trial as recorded here; see the source links in the table below. This is orientation, not medical advice: ask your team how closely the trial population matches you.
313 enrolled.
| Endpoint | Arm | n | Value | HR (95% CI) | p | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event-free survival at 2 yearsprimary | Neoadjuvant + adjuvant pembrolizumab | - | 72% | 0.58 | - | link |
| Adjuvant pembrolizumab | - | 49% |
Shares Neoadjuvant immunotherapy → response-adapted adjuvant, Stage III melanoma (after surgery), Surgery roadmap: radical operations → less surgery → no surgery when a drug has done the work, Neoadjuvant / adjuvant / perioperative.
Shares Neoadjuvant immunotherapy → response-adapted adjuvant, Stage III melanoma (after surgery), Neoadjuvant / adjuvant / perioperative, Melanoma.
Shares Stage III melanoma (after surgery), Melanoma, Pembrolizumab, Immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Shares Stage III melanoma (after surgery), PD-1, Melanoma, Pembrolizumab.
Shares Stage III melanoma (after surgery), Melanoma, Pembrolizumab, Immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Shares Stage III melanoma (after surgery), Melanoma, Pembrolizumab, Immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Shares Stage III melanoma (after surgery), Neoadjuvant / adjuvant / perioperative, PD-1, Melanoma.
Shares Neoadjuvant / adjuvant / perioperative, PD-1, Pembrolizumab, Immune checkpoint inhibitors.