%0 Journal Article
%A Espinosa, Enrique
%A Soriano, Virtudes
%A Malvehy, Josep
%A Berrocal, Alfonso
%A Martínez de Prado, Purificación
%A Quindós, María
%A Soria, Ainara
%A Márquez-Rodas, Iván
%A Palacio, Isabel
%A Cerezuela, Pablo
%A López-Vivanco, Guillermo
%A Alonso, Lorenzo
%A Samaniego, Elia
%A Ballesteros, Ana
%A Puértolas, Teresa
%A Díaz-Beveridge, Rodrigo
%A de la Cruz-Merino, Luis
%A López Castro, Rafael
%A López López, Rafael
%A Stevinson, Kendall
%A Del Barrio, Patricia
%A Tornamira, Maria V
%A Guillém, Vicente
%A Martín-Algarra, Salvador
%T Treatment patterns of adjuvant interferon-α2b for high-risk melanoma: a retrospective study of the Grupo Español Multidisciplinar de Melanoma - Prima study.
%D 2016
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10668/9903
%X Adjuvant interferon-α2b (IFN-α2b) 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-α2b 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-α2b. 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-α2b, 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-α2b 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-α2b treatment provided a benefit consistent with that described previously.
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