Real-world overall survival after alternative dosing for pembrolizumab in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer: A nationwide retrospective cohort study with a non-inferiority primary objective.

Background: High and increasing expenses on pembrolizumab ask for more cost-effective and sustainable treatment strategies to improve affordability of healthcare. Therefore, a part of the Dutch hospitals implemented an alternative, partially lower, weight-based dosing protocol for pembrolizumab. This provided the unique opportunity to compare the overall survival (OS) of the alternative pembrolizumab dosing protocol to standard dosing using a nationwide registry in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Real-world Outcomes of Ipilimumab Plus Nivolumab Combination Therapy in a Nation-wide Cohort of Advanced Melanoma Patients in the Netherlands.

In phase III trials, ipilimumab plus nivolumab combination therapy is highly efficacious for advanced melanoma, despite many treatment-related grades 3-4 adverse events. Here, we report real-world safety and survival outcomes of ipilimumab plus nivolumab for advanced melanoma. Patients with advanced melanoma who received first-line ipilimumab plus nivolumab between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2021 were selected from the Dutch Melanoma Treatment Registry.

A comparison of the effectiveness of different doses of tocilizumab and sarilumab in the treatment of severe COVID-19: a natural experiment due to drug shortages.

Objectives: Interleukin (IL)-6 inhibitors are administered to treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19. In 2021, due to shortages, different dosing regimens of tocilizumab, and a switch to sarilumab, were consecutively implemented. Using real-world data, we compare the effectiveness of these IL-6 inhibitors.

End-of-Life Use of Systemic Therapy in Patients With Advanced Melanoma: A Nationwide Cohort Study.

Purpose: The introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies improved the overall survival of patients with advanced melanoma. It is not known how often these costly treatments with potential serious side effects are ineffectively applied in the last phase of life. This study aimed to investigate the start of a new systemic therapy within 45 and 90 days of death in Dutch patients with advanced melanoma.

Medication Use and Clinical Outcomes by the Dutch Institute for Clinical Auditing Medicines Program: Quantitative Analysis.

Background: The Dutch Institute for Clinical Auditing (DICA) Medicines Program was set up in September 2018 to evaluate expensive medicine use in daily practice in terms of real-world effectiveness using only existing data sources.

Objective: The aim of this study is to describe the potential of the addition of declaration data to quality registries to provide participating centers with benchmark information about the use of medicines and outcomes among patients.

Methods: A total of 3 national population-based registries were linked to clinical and financial data from the hospital pharmacy, the Dutch diagnosis treatment combinations information system including in-hospital activities, and survival data from health care insurers.

Long-term survival of patients with advanced melanoma treated with BRAF-MEK inhibitors.

Recent results of patients with advanced melanoma treated with first-line BRAF-MEK inhibitors in clinical trials showed 5-year survival in one-third of patients with a median overall survival (OS) of more than 2 years. This study aimed to investigate these patients' real-world survival and identify the characteristics of long-term survivors. The study population consisted of patients with advanced cutaneous melanoma with a BRAF-V600 mutated tumor who were treated with first-line BRAF-MEK inhibitors between 2013 and 2017.

Hospital Variation in Cancer Treatments and Survival OutComes of Advanced Melanoma Patients: Nationwide Quality Assurance in The Netherlands.

Background: To assure a high quality of care for patients treated in Dutch melanoma centers, hospital variation in treatment patterns and outcomes is evaluated in the Dutch Melanoma Treatment Registry. The aim of this study was to assess center variation in treatments and 2-year survival probabilities of patients diagnosed between 2013 and 2017 in the Netherlands.

Methods: We selected patients diagnosed between 2013 and 2017 with unresectable IIIC or stage IV melanoma, registered in the Dutch Melanoma Treatment Registry.

The unfavorable effects of COVID-19 on Dutch advanced melanoma care.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on medical care. Our study aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on advanced melanoma care in the Netherlands. We selected patients diagnosed with irresectable stage IIIc and IV melanoma during the first and second COVID-19 wave and compared them with patients diagnosed within the same time frame in 2018 and 2019.

Adjuvant treatment for melanoma in clinical practice - Trial versus reality.

Background: Little is known about outcomes of adjuvant-treated melanoma patients beyond the clinical trial setting. Since 2019, adjuvant-treated melanoma patients have been registered in the DMTR, a population-based registry to monitor the quality and safety of melanoma care in the Netherlands. This study aims to describe treatment patterns, relapse, and toxicity rates of adjuvant-treated melanoma patients beyond the clinical trial setting.

First-line BRAF/MEK inhibitors versus anti-PD-1 monotherapy in BRAF-mutant advanced melanoma patients: a propensity-matched survival analysis.

Background: Anti-PD-1 antibodies and BRAF/MEK inhibitors are the two main groups of systemic therapy in the treatment of BRAF-mutant advanced melanoma. Until now, data are inconclusive on which therapy to use as first-line treatment. The aim of this study was to use propensity score matching to compare first-line anti-PD-1 monotherapy vs.

Postapproval trials versus patient registries: comparability of advanced melanoma patients with brain metastases.

Postapproval trials and patient registries have their pros and cons in the generation of postapproval data. No direct comparison between clinical outcomes of these data sources currently exists for advanced melanoma patients. We aimed to investigate whether a patient registry can complement or even replace postapproval trials.

Nationwide Outcomes of Advanced Melanoma According to BRAFV600 Status.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate treatment patterns and overall survival (OS) of patients with BRAFV600 wild-type and BRAFV600-mutant advanced melanoma in the Netherlands.

Methods: We selected patients of 18 years and over, diagnosed between 2016 and 2017 with unresectable stage IIIC or IV melanoma, registered in the Dutch Melanoma Treatment Registry. To assess the association of BRAFV600-mutation status with OS we used the Cox proportional-hazards model.

Real-world outcomes of advanced melanoma patients not represented in phase III trials.

The aim was to provide evidence on systemically treated patients with advanced melanoma not represented in phase III trials to support clinical decision-making. Analysis were performed on advanced melanoma patients diagnosed between 2014 and 2017 in the Netherlands, treated with immune- or targeted therapy, who met ≥1 trial exclusion criteria. These criteria were derived from the KEYNOTE-006 and CHECKMATE-067/-066 phase III trials.

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in daily clinical practice: a community hospital-based study.

Background: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) are major adverse effects of cancer chemotherapy. This study investigated: (1) the impact of CINV on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQL) in daily clinical practice; (2) the association between patient characteristics and type of antiemetics and CINV; and (3) the role of CINV in physicians' decisions to modify antiemetic treatment.

Patients And Methods: This prospective, multicenter study was conducted in nine general hospitals in the Netherlands.

Cancer-related fatigue: clinical practice versus practice guidelines.

Purpose: This study investigated adherence to treatment guidelines on cancer-related anaemia and fatigue (CRA/CRF) and factors influencing the choice of intervention.

Methods: In this prospective, observational study, 136 cancer patients being treated with chemotherapy in a large community hospital completed a questionnaire at consecutive outpatient visits assessing fatigue (the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue) and fatigue-related counselling and advice received. Data on administration of chemotherapy and use of epoetin or blood transfusions were abstracted from the medical records.

Use of health-related quality-of-life assessments in daily clinical oncology nursing practice: a community hospital-based intervention study.

Background: The current study evaluated the efficacy of incorporating standardized health-related quality of life (HRQL) assessments as a routine part of the outpatient chemotherapy treatment of cancer patients in a community hospital in terms of: 1) facilitating nurse-patient communication, 2) increasing nurses' awareness of patients' HRQL, 3) patient management, 4) patients' satisfaction, and 5) patients' HRQL.

Methods: The study employed a sequential cohort design with repeated measures. Ten nurses and 219 patients participated in this community hospital-based study.

Level of agreement between patient self-report and observer ratings of health-related quality of life communication in oncology.

Objective: To determine the level of agreement between patients and observers regarding the frequency with which health-related quality of life topics are discussed during outpatient clinical oncology visits.

Methods: The sample (n=50) consisted of a consecutive series of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Both the patients and observers used a checklist to report which HRQL topics had been discussed during the consultation.