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Abstract
Background Nivolumab is approved in the US and EU for the adjuvant treatment of resected stage III-IV melanoma based on results from the CheckMate-238 clinical trial.1,2 However, the trial did not enroll any patients with Stage IIIA disease per the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 7th edition criteria and included a limited number of patients with stage IIIA disease per the AJCC 8th edition.3,4,5Recognizing the need for real-world data to assess outcomes of patients with resected stage IIIA melanoma treated with adjuvant nivolumab, a non-interventional study was conducted to investigate treatment patterns and outcomes among patients receiving adjuvant nivolumab within the US community practice setting.
Methods A retrospective analysis of the US Oncology Network’s iKnowMed medical data was conducted to examine patients with resected stage IIIA melanoma treated with adjuvant nivolumab between 01-Jan-2018 and 31-Dec-2019 with a follow-up period through 31-Mar-2020. Patients were followed for up to 27 months after their sentinel lymph node biopsy. Baseline demographic/clinical characteristics and treatment patterns were examined descriptively. Duration of treatment (DOT) and overall survival were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Results A total of 58 patients with stage IIIA melanoma treated with adjuvant nivolumab were identified. Median age was 57.8 years (range 21.5–93.5), 62.1% were male, and 75.9% were Caucasian. Among patients with a documented Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (51.7%), all had an ECOG score of 0 or 1. Median follow-up time was 12.6 months (range 0.3–25.1). Median DOT was 10.6 months (range 6.8–12.0). Overall survival rates at 12 and 24 months were 97.7% (95% CI 84.6–99.7) and 92.2% (95% CI 69.6–98.2), respectively.
Conclusions This real-world analysis of patients with stage IIIA melanoma treated with adjuvant nivolumab showed that a large proportion of patients were alive at the end of the study period, suggesting these patients have a favorable prognosis. Further investigation and follow-up is warranted to assess clinically relevant outcomes among patients with resected stage IIIA melanoma.
Ethics Approval The study was approved by US Oncology Inc’s Institutional Review Board, approval number 20-020E-2020-0224-01.
References
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Weber J, Mandala M, Del Vecchio M, et al. Adjuvant therapy with nivolumab (NIVO) versus ipilimumab (IPI) after complete resection of stage III/IV melanoma: A randomized, double-blind, phase 3 trial (CheckMate 238). Ann Oncol 2017;28(5):632–33.
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Gershenwald JE, Scolyer RA, Hess KR, et al. Melanoma staging: Evidence-based changes in the American Joint Committee on Cancer eighth edition cancer staging manual. CA Cancer J Clin 2017;67(6):472–492.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Cutaneous Melanoma Version 3.2020 - May 18, 2020. 2020.
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