Dr. Postow stresses need for long-term multidisciplinary monitoring after melanoma immunotherapy

Dr. Michael Postow, chief of the Melanoma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, emphasizes the importance of long-term multidisciplinary monitoring for patients who have completed immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for melanoma.

He explains that after treatment ends, patients typically remain under the care of the oncologist who administered the checkpoint inhibitor, and maintaining this relationship is especially important in the period immediately following therapy.

Continued collaboration with subspecialists is needed to identify and manage delayed or chronic toxicities that can arise long after treatment discontinuation.

Follow-up visits usually involve routine imaging such as CT scans, PET scans, or MRIs to monitor for disease recurrence or progression.