Laboratory value changes under dabrafenib and trametinib treatement of malignant melanoma with respect to pyrexia

Pyrexia is a frequent adverse event of BRAF/MEK-inhibitor combination
therapy in patients with metastasized malignant melanoma (MM). The
study's objective was to identify laboratory changes which might
correlate with the appearance of pyrexia. Graphical visualization of time
series of laboratory values suggested that a rise in C-reactive-protein,
in parallel with a fall of leukocytes and thrombocytes, were indicative of
pyrexia. Additionally, statistical analysis showed a significant
correlation between lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and pyrexia. An algorithm
based on these observations was designed using a deductive and heuristic
approach in order to calculate a pyrexia score (PS) for each laboratory
assessment in treated patients. The supplied data provides anonymized and
normalized values for CRP, LDH, leukocyte and thrombocyte numbers and the
respective pyrexia score of 44 patients without pyrexia and with pyrexia
under dabrafenib plus trametiniob treatment. Pyrexia scores based on the
four parameters  were statistically significantly higher in
pyrexia patients, differentiated between groups and showed a significant
predictive value for the diagnosis of pyrexia.