End-of-life use of systemic therapy in patients with advanced melanoma in The Netherlands
Prof. Alfons van den Eertwegh
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 side effects are ineffectively applied in the last phase of life. A nationwide cohort study in The Netherlands found that the percentage of patients receiving a new systemic therapy within 45 or 90 days before death was significantly different between Dutch melanoma centers, varying from 6% to 23% and 20% to 46%, respectively. Thirteen percent of these patients developed grade 3 or 4 AEs in the last period of life, requiring hospital admission in 70%.
