Skipping radiation after brain tumor surgery with targeted drugs

This trial is testing whether patients with brain tumors from melanoma or lung cancer can avoid radiation therapy after surgery if they receive powerful, brain-penetrating medications instead. Researchers want to see if these medications alone—such as dual immune checkpoint inhibitors for melanoma, osimertinib for certain lung cancers, or ALK inhibitors like brigatinib, alectinib, or lorlatinib—can prevent the cancer from coming back in the surgery site, without the side effects that come with radiation.

Radiation therapy after brain surgery can damage healthy brain tissue and affect memory, thinking, and quality of life. This trial exists to see if newer, highly effective medications that work well in the brain might be strong enough to protect against recurrence on their own, sparing patients from unnecessary radiation.