Costs associated with adverse events for systemic therapies in metastatic melanoma.

Aim: To determine the costs of adverse events (AEs) associated with current metastatic melanoma (MM) therapies.

Materials & Methods: Two retrospective cohort studies were independently conducted using the PharMetrics and MarketScan databases. Included patients were aged ≥18 years, and had ≥1 MM diagnosis and ≥1 claim for systemic therapy from 2004 to 2015.

Results: A total of 1654 and 1329 patients were identified in PharMetrics and MarketScan, respectively. The corresponding adjusted 30-day incremental costs of AEs by category were highest for CNS/psychiatric (US$21,277 and $18,739), gastrointestinal ($18,534 and $15,648), respiratory ($17,338 and $17,064), cardiovascular ($16,083 and $15,430), hematological/lymphatic ($14,997 and $15,538) and metabolic/nutritional AEs ($12,340 and $17,251).

Conclusion: The costs of AEs associated with systemic therapies for MM are substantial.