Dabrafenib Plus Trametinib Better Preserve Quality of Life vs. Dabrafenib Alone

The combination of dabrafenib and trametinib provides better preservation of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and pain improvements compared with dabrafenib monotherapy while also delaying disease progression, a recent study published in the European Journal of Cancer has shown.

For the study, researchers sought to analyze the impact of treatments on HRQoL from the COMBI-d study that evaluated the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib versus dabrafenib alone in patients with BRAF V600/K-mutant metastatic melanoma.

Results showed that global health dimension scores were significantly better at weeks 8, 16, and 24 for those receiving dabrafenib plus trametinib during treatment and at progression.

Researchers also found that the majority of functional dimension scores trended in favor of the combination regimen.

The study also showed that pain scores were significantly improved and clinically meaningful for patients receiving dabrafenib and trametinib for all follow-up assessments compared with those receiving dabrafenib alone.

However, for other symptom dimensions, scored trended in favor of the monotherapy.

Reference

1. Schadendorf D, Amonkar MM, Stroyakovskiy D, et al. Health-related quality of life impact in ra randomised phase III study of the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib versus dabrafenib monotherapy in patients with BRAF V600 metastatic melanoma. Eur J Cancer. 2015. [Epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2015.03.004.