Cost Effectiveness of Avelumab for Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma.

Background: Metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (mMCC) is a rare and aggressive skin cancer. Until recently, there were no licensed treatment options for patients with mMCC, and prognosis was poor. A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted for avelumab, a newly available treatment option for mMCC, versus standard care (SC), from a UK National Health Service perspective.

Economic burden of advanced melanoma in France, Germany and the UK: a retrospective observational study (Melanoma Burden-of-Illness Study).

The aim of this study was to estimate the cost-of-illness associated with completely resected stage IIIB/IIIC melanoma with macroscopic lymph node involvement, overall and by disease phase, in France, Germany and the UK. This retrospective observational study included patients aged older than or equal to 18 years first diagnosed with stage IIIB/IIIC cutaneous melanoma between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2011. Data were obtained from medical records and a patient survey.

Treatment patterns and outcomes of Stage IIIB/IIIC melanoma in France, Germany and the UK: A retrospective and prospective observational study (MELABIS).

Aim: Real-world data on treatment patterns/outcomes in patients with advanced melanoma, while scarce, are useful for health technology assessments that govern patient access in many countries. We collected retrospective data on treatment patterns among patients in France, Germany and the UK with Stage IIIB/IIIC melanoma with macroscopic lymph node involvement, whose primary melanoma and regional lymph node metastases had been completely resected.

Methods: Patients ≥18 years were diagnosed between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2011.

Cost-Effectiveness of Eltrombopag versus Romiplostim for the Treatment of Chronic Immune Thrombocytopenia in England and Wales.

Objectives: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of eltrombopag compared with romiplostim to be used in the treatment of chronic immune thrombocytopenia in patients in England and Wales who are splenectomized or ineligible for splenectomy and are refractory to other treatments.

Methods: A Markov cohort model in which patients were administered a sequence of treatments was used to predict long-term outcomes associated with each treatment. The model was informed by data from the eltrombopag clinical trial program and the available literature.

Cost and economic burden of adverse events associated with metastatic melanoma treatments in five countries.

Objective: To estimate per-event cost and economic burden associated with managing the most common and/or severe metastatic melanoma (MM) treatment-related adverse events (AEs) in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK.

Methods: AEs associated with chemotherapy (dacarbazine, paclitaxel, fotemustine), immunotherapy (ipilimumab), and targeted therapy (vemurafenib) were identified by literature review. Medical resource use data associated with managing AEs were collected through two blinded Delphi panel cycles in each of the five countries.

Adjusting for confounding effects of treatment switching in a randomized phase II study of dabrafenib plus trametinib in BRAF V600+ metastatic melanoma.

Patients with BRAF V600E mutation-positive melanoma who were assigned to 150 mg dabrafenib twice daily combined with 2 mg trametinib once daily in a phase I/II study showed a median overall survival (OS) of 23.8 months, compared with 20.2 months for patients assigned to dabrafenib alone [hazard ratio (HR)=0.

Adjusting for the Confounding Effects of Treatment Switching-The BREAK-3 Trial: Dabrafenib Versus Dacarbazine.

Background: Patients with previously untreated BRAF V600E mutation-positive melanoma in BREAK-3 showed a median overall survival (OS) of 18.2 months for dabrafenib versus 15.6 months for dacarbazine (hazard ratio [HR], 0.

Predictors of early death in female patients with breast cancer in the UK: a cohort study.

Objective To identify factors predicting early death in women with breast cancer. Design Cohort study. Setting 29 trusts across seven cancer networks in the North Thames area.

Assessment of acute pain in children: development of evidence-based guidelines.

Aim: Detecting children's pain in a healthcare setting can be improved by facilitating pain expression in ways that are appropriate to the child's cognitive development and that can be recognised by their carers. To ensure up-to-date guidance on assessing pain in children, the Royal College of Nursing undertook an evidence-based update of pain assessment guidelines, initially published in 2000.

Methods: Following systematic review of the psychometric testing literature, a two-stage critical appraisal process was developed to derive a list of robust tools that could be recommended for use in a variety of settings to assess the intensity of a child's acute pain.