Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31250217›Full record

ArticleApplied health economics and health policy2019

Treatment Patterns, Overall Survival, and Total Healthcare Costs of Advanced Merkel Cell Carcinoma in the USA.

Lotte Steuten, Vincent Garmo, Hemant Phatak, Sean D Sullivan, Paul Nghiem, Scott D Ramsey

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Applied health economics and health policy, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Merkel Cell Carcinoma from Molecular Pathology to Novel Therapies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Lotte SteutenHutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. North, Mail Stop M3-B232, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA. lsteuten@ohe.org.ORCID 0000-0002-5688-236X
Vincent GarmoEMD Serono, 1 Technology Place, Rockland, MA, 02370, USA.
Hemant PhatakEMD Serono, 1 Technology Place, Rockland, MA, 02370, USA.
Sean D SullivanSchool of Pharmacy, University of Washington, 1959 Northeast Pacific Street, Campus Box: 357630, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
Paul NghiemDivision of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, 850 Republican Street, Box 358050, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA.
Scott D RamseyHutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. North, Mail Stop M3-B232, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA.
Ono Pharmaceutical (United States) · USUniversity of Washington · USCape Town HVTN Immunology Laboratory / Hutchinson Centre Research Institute of South Africa · ZAFred Hutch Cancer Center · US

Funding

Understand & overcome resistance to PD-1P01CA225517 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI PAUL NGHIEM · 2019 to 2026
$22.7M
NCI NIH HHS P01 CA225517
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMerkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive type of cancer with poor outcomes.

objectiveTo describe treatment patterns, overall survival, and healthcare costs associated with advanced MCC (aMCC) using data from Medicare enrollees who received an aMCC diagnosis in the USA States between 2006 and 2013.

methodsSurveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare data from 2006 to 2013 were used to describe treatment patterns, 1- and 5-year overall survival, and total healthcare costs for the periods 12 months before aMCC diagnosis and 4-12 months afterward in patients aged ≥ 65 years.

resultsWe identified 257 patients with an aMCC diagnosis, of whom 51% had stage IIIb disease and 49% had stage IV. Within 4 months after diagnosis, 84% of patients (n = 216) received treatment; 45% (n = 115) received surgery, 48% (n = 124) radiation therapy, and 31% (n = 80) chemotherapy. Second-line chemotherapy was administered in 33% of patients (n = 26) receiving first-line chemotherapy. Median overall survival was 27 months in patients whose aMCC was diagnosed at stage IIIb and 12 months in patients whose aMCC was diagnosed at stage IV. Median total 12-month direct healthcare costs were US$48,006 (25th-75th percentile range = US$30,594-US$69,797) per patient. Total costs were highest in patients receiving chemotherapy, either alone or combined with radiation and/or surgery (US$52,854; 25th-75th percentile range = US$34,473-US$71,987).

conclusionMost patients with aMCC received initial treatment, including surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy, and approximately one-third of those receiving chemotherapy received second-line chemotherapy. Total 12-month direct healthcare costs were highest in patients who received chemotherapy alone or combined with radiation and/or surgery. These poor survival results and high treatment costs highlight the need for effective new aMCC therapies.

Indexed as

Health Care CostsAgedCarcinoma, Merkel CellCombined Modality TherapyFemaleHumansMaleMedicareNeoplasm StagingPractice Patterns, Physicians'SEER ProgramSurvival RateUnited States

Identifiers

PMID31250217
PMCPMC6748883
OpenAlexW2955493501

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.