{"entity":{"id":"paper-keynote-054-eggermont-nejm-2018","kind":"paper","name":"KEYNOTE-054 (EORTC 1325): adjuvant pembrolizumab versus placebo in resected stage III melanoma","aka":[],"tldr":"A year of pembrolizumab after surgery for stage III melanoma cut the risk of recurrence by 43 percent compared with placebo, the first placebo-controlled proof that adjuvant PD-1 blockade works.","summary":"Phase 3 placebo-controlled trial of 1,019 patients with completely resected stage III melanoma randomised to pembrolizumab or placebo for one year.\n\nTwelve-month recurrence-free survival was 75.4 versus 61.0 percent (hazard ratio 0.57), consistent across PD-L1 and BRAF subgroups; five-year recurrence-free survival was 55.4 versus 38.3 percent and distant metastasis-free survival was also improved, with grade 3 or higher immune-related events in 7.1 percent.","asOf":"2026-09-17","links":[{"label":"N Engl J Med 2018","url":"https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1802357"},{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29658430/"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["stage-iii-melanoma"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["pembrolizumab"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":["nejm"],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"journal":"New England Journal of Medicine","year":2018,"doi":"10.1056/NEJMoa1802357","pmid":"29658430","authors":"Eggermont AMM, Blank CU, Mandala M, et al.","paperType":"rct","findings":["Twelve-month recurrence-free survival 75.4 percent vs 61.0 percent; hazard ratio 0.57.","Five-year recurrence-free survival 55.4 percent vs 38.3 percent."],"whatItMeans":"Adjuvant pembrolizumab is a standard for resected stage III melanoma, with subsequent trials extending it to stage II and to the neoadjuvant setting.","caveats":["Overall survival benefit not demonstrated, as placebo patients could receive pembrolizumab at relapse."],"changedPractice":true,"participants":1019},"route":"/key-papers/paper-keynote-054-eggermont-nejm-2018/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"stage-iii-melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Stage III melanoma (after surgery)","route":"/cancers/stage-iii-melanoma/"}],"drug":[{"id":"pembrolizumab","kind":"drug","name":"Pembrolizumab","route":"/drugs/pembrolizumab/"}],"journal":[{"id":"nejm","kind":"journal","name":"New England Journal of Medicine","route":"/journals/nejm/"}]}}