Therapy understanding and health related quality of life in stageIII/IV melanoma patients treated with novel adjuvant therapies.

Abstract

Our aims were to investigate the motivation for therapy, the understanding and valuation of potential treatment toxicities in melanoma patients offered adjuvant therapies. Between September 2018 and September 2019 49 adjuvant patients with stageIII and IV melanoma received a self-created, pre-treatment questionnaire. Furthermore, the patients were handed out the REPERES-G, EQ-5D-3L and EORTC QLQ C-30 questionnaires. Eight patients (18.3%) decided against adjuvant therapy (mean age 71.6years). Four of these had stageIIIA melanoma. The majority of patients (73.4%) decided for adjuvant treatment with PD1-inhibitors despite their potential high grade, persistent, irreversible or even fatal toxicities. About a third of patients with BRAF V600 mutated melanoma who decided for therapy chose targeted therapy (31.3%). These patients were younger (mean age 49years), still working and had families with children. The REPERES-G questionnaire showed that our patients were generally satisfied with medical care. The average scores in the EQ-5D-3L and EORTC QLQ C-30 questionnaires indicated good subjective general health. Despite the associated toxicities as well as the required time and effort for a one-year treatment the majority of patients decided for adjuvant treatments.