Despite the increasing incidence of metastatic melanoma in the older population, there is relatively limited specific data surrounding the use of immunotherapy for the treatment of advanced melanoma for patients above the age of 65 years. To date, there has not been a prospective trial done to evaluate the safety and efficacy of using immunotherapy to treat older patients with advanced melanoma. Older patients are often under-represented in clinical trials. In addition, older patients in clinical trials may have lower Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score and fewer co-morbidities, and thus trial data may not truly reflect the experience of treating older patients. The purpose of this descriptive review is to examine the efficacy and safety data of the three currently approved immune checkpoint inhibitors for advanced melanoma treatment in older patients. Our review of available data established that the efficacy and tolerability of immunotherapy in older patients are comparable to results seen in younger patients. However, a dedicated, prospective, randomised trial to assess the safety, tolerability, and quality-of-life parameters of immunotherapy in the older population would provide further insight on the value of these treatments.

中文翻译：

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老年晚期黑素瘤患者的免疫治疗：当前证据的回顾。

尽管老年人中转移性黑色素瘤的发病率不断增加，但围绕65岁以上患者使用免疫疗法治疗晚期黑色素瘤的具体数据相对有限。迄今为止，还没有一项前瞻性试验来评估使用免疫疗法治疗老年晚期黑色素瘤患者的安全性和有效性。老年患者在临床试验中代表性不足。此外，临床试验中的老年患者可能具有较低的东部合作肿瘤小组（ECOG）性能评分和较少的合并症，因此试验数据可能无法真正反映治疗老年患者的经验。本描述性综述的目的是检查三种目前批准的免疫检查点抑制剂在老年患者中用于晚期黑素瘤治疗的功效和安全性数据。我们对现有数据的审查表明，老年患者免疫疗法的疗效和耐受性与年轻患者的结果相当。然而，一项专门的，前瞻性，随机试验评估老年人群中免疫治疗的安全性，耐受性和生活质量参数，将为这些治疗的价值提供进一步的认识。