Treatment patterns of adjuvant interferon-[alpha]2b for high-risk melanoma: a retrospective study of the Grupo Espanol Multidisciplinar de Melanoma - Prima study.

Adjuvant interferon-[alpha]2b (IFN-[alpha]2b) has been studied extensively in clinical trials, but there have been few studies of real-world use. The aim of this study is to describe the IFN-[alpha]2b real-world patterns in patients with high-risk melanoma in Spain. This was a retrospective and multicentre chart review study of an unselected cohort of patients with melanoma at high risk for relapse (stage IIB/IIC/III) treated with IFN-[alpha]2b. Patterns were assessed in terms of dose and compliance to planned treatment. A survival analysis was carried out for the full population and according to Kirkwood scheme compliance and the presence of ulceration. Of 327 patients treated with IFN-[alpha]2b, 318 received a high-dose regimen following the standard Kirkwood scheme; thus, patterns are described for this regimen. A total of 121 (38%) and 88 (28%) patients had at least one dose reduction during the induction and maintenance phases, respectively. Dose delay was required in fewer than 10% of patients. A total of 78, 40 and 38% of the patients completed the induction phase, maintenance phase and completed treatment, respectively. The median progression-free and overall survival for the full population were 3.2 and 10.5 years, respectively. There were no differences in progression-free survival and overall survival according to Kirkwood scheme compliance and the presence of ulceration. The most frequent adverse events were neutropenia (31%) and fatigue (30%). High-dose IFN-[alpha]2b is the most frequently used regimen in Spain as an adjuvant systemic treatment for high-risk melanoma. Despite poor compliance, in this retrospective study, IFN-[alpha]2b treatment provided a benefit consistent with that described previously. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially. http://ift.tt/1hexVwJ. Copyright (C) 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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