A poster titled “Association Between Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Use and Outcomes in Metastatic Melanoma Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Real-World Cohort Study” was presented at the ASCO 2026 Annual Meeting by author Sandeep Kumar Jain, MD on behalf of co-authors Jeremy Coyle, Jananee Muralidharan, Daniel D. Rodriguez-Romero, Honor Magon, C. William Pike, and Casey St. Luce. The authors are affiliated with Atropos Health.
Short Summary:
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have transformed treatment for metastatic melanoma, but response rates vary and predictive biomarkers remain limited. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), commonly prescribed among cancer patients, have suggested immunomodulatory properties — but their effect on ICI outcomes is not well understood.
Using real-world data from the Atropos Evidence™ Network, researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study of 3,597 metastatic melanoma patients to examine whether baseline SSRI use influences ICI outcomes. While SSRI use showed a numerically lower risk of death, no outcomes reached statistical significance, pointing to the need for prospective randomized trials.
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