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Review
. 2025 Apr 18;26(8):3828.
doi: 10.3390/ijms26083828.

Current Treatment Paradigms for Advanced Melanoma with Brain Metastases

Elisabetta Bonzano  1 , Stefania Barruscotti  2 , Silvia Chiellino  3 , Benedetta Montagna  3 , Chiara Bonzano  4 , Ilaria Imarisio  3 , Sara Colombo  1 , Francesco Guerrini  5 , Jessica Saddi  1 , Salvatore La Mattina  1 , Carlo Francesco Tomasini  2 , Giannantonio Spena  5 , Paolo Pedrazzoli  3 , Andrea Lancia  1
Affiliations
Review

Current Treatment Paradigms for Advanced Melanoma with Brain Metastases

Elisabetta Bonzano et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

The therapeutic management of melanoma brain metastases has undergone a profound revolution during recent decades. Optimal integration of systemic therapies with local treatments seems to represent the strategy to pursue in order to maximize clinical outcomes, stressing the need for real multidisciplinary care in this setting of patients. However, the current approach in the clinics does not necessarily reflect what the current guidelines state, and several pending issues are present, from the ideal therapeutic sequence between stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and drug administration to the current role of surgery and whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT), all of which need to be addressed. This narrative review aims to provide practical help for navigating the current controversies, with an eye towards possible future advancements in the field, which could help to obtain a comprehensive molecular characterization of the tumor and a more personalized patient-centered therapeutic approach.

Keywords: brain metastases; immunotherapy; melanoma; multidisciplinary treatment; radiotherapy; stereotactic radiosurgery; targeted therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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