Nonprogression with avelumab treatment associated with gains in quality of life in metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.

Nonprogression with avelumab treatment associated with gains in quality of life in metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.

Future Oncol. 2017 Dec 08;:

Authors: Kaufman HL, Hunger M, Hennessy M, Schlichting M, Bharmal M

Abstract
AIM: To assess the association between tumor response and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma treated with the anti-PD-L1 avelumab.
MATERIALS & METHODS: Phase II single-arm trial (NCT02155647) data of 88 patients were analyzed. Correlations between percentage reduction in tumor size and change from baseline in Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General (FACT-G), FACT - Melanoma (FACT-M) and EuroQol-5 Dimension scores were calculated. HRQoL and utility by tumor response (per the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors version 1.1) was estimated.
RESULTS: Tumor shrinkage correlated positively with patients' change from baseline in the FACT-M total (0.364 [95% CI: 0.050; 0.607]) and subscale scores. Differences in HRQoL and utility between nonprogressive disease and progressive disease were clinically relevant.
CONCLUSION: In patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma, nonprogression during treatment with avelumab correlated with gains in HRQoL.

PMID: 29219612 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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