Real-world outcomes among US Merkel cell carcinoma patients initiating immune checkpoint inhibitors or chemotherapy

Sunandana Chandra, Ying Zheng*, Shivani Pandya, Ting Yu, Mairead Kearney, Li Wang, Ruth Kim, Hemant Phatak

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aim: Retrospectively assessed treatment patterns and clinical and economic outcomes in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) patients receiving recommended first-line regimens. Materials & methods: MCC patients newly treated with either immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) or chemotherapies (CTs) were selected from the Veterans Health Administration database (2013-2018); 74 patients (ICIs: 20 and CTs: 54) were selected. Results: Median duration of therapy was 300 days for ICIs and 91 days for CTs. Time to next treatment was 245 and 184 days, respectively. Mean total (per patient per month) costs were $15,306 (ICIs) and $10,957 (CTs), of which 51% and 86%, respectively, were non-MCC therapy-related costs. Conclusion: Despite higher costs, utilization of ICIs in first-line MCC shows clinical advantages over CTs in the real world.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2521-2536
Number of pages16
JournalFuture Oncology
Volume16
Issue number31
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2020

Keywords

  • Duration of treatment
  • Health care resource utilization
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors
  • Merkel cell carcinoma
  • Recommended chemotherapy
  • Survival
  • Time to next treatment
  • Veterans Health Administration

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Real-world outcomes among US Merkel cell carcinoma patients initiating immune checkpoint inhibitors or chemotherapy'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this