Multinational phase 2 study of first-line avelumab for metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma

The multinational phase 2 JAVELIN Merkel 200 study evaluated first-line avelumab (anti-PD-L1) for metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma. Durable response (≥ 6 months) was seen in 30.2% of the patients and overall response in 39.7%. Responses were observed early, with a median time to response of 6.1 weeks. Median duration of response was 18.2 months. Median progression-free survival was 4.1 months, and median overall survival was 20.3 months. There were no grade 5 TRAEs; grade 3 or 4 TRAEs were seen in 18.1% of patients.