Trial reportThe patient2020
Patient Experiences with Avelumab in Treatment-Naïve Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Longitudinal Qualitative Interview Findings from JAVELIN Merkel 200, a Registrational Clinical Trial.
Trial report in The patient, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
A Phase II, Open-Label, Multicenter Trial to Investigate the Clinical Activity and Safety of Avelumab (MSB0010718C) in Subjects With Merkel Cell Carcinoma
Merkel Cell Carcinoma Clinical Trials: What Are Prevailing Patient Experiences in Merkel Cell Carcinoma Studies
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Capturing Real-World Rare Disease Patient Journeys: Are Current Methodologies Sufficient for Informed Healthcare Decisions?Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Pooled it
- Experience of patients considering or using checkpoint inhibitors in cancer treatment: a systematic review of qualitative research.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2024Pooled it
- General health versus tumor stage: determinants of survival in Merkel cell carcinoma assessed by sentinel lymph node biopsy.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2026Article
- Patient Voices in Rheumatic Immune-related Adverse Events.Rheumatic diseases clinics of North America · 2024Review
- Article
- Article
- Merkel Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck: Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, Current State of Treatment and Future Directions.Cancers · 2021Review
- Health-related quality of life trajectory of treatment-naive patients with Merkel cell carcinoma receiving avelumab.Future oncology (London, England) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 11 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveAvelumab is approved for the treatment of metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare aggressive skin cancer with a poor prognosis. The aim of this qualitative study embedded in a clinical trial was to explore patient experiences while receiving avelumab.
methodsAll treatment-naïve patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma entering part B of the phase II, open-label, international, JAVELIN Merkel 200 trial (NCT02155647) were invited to participate in optional semi-structured phone interviews before avelumab administration (baseline) and at weeks 13 and 25. Interviews were conducted by trained professionals, audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed. Key concepts identified at baseline were assessed during follow-up interviews.
resultsTwenty-nine patients completed the baseline interview; 19 had at least one follow-up interview. Baseline interviews described the patients' challenging journeys before being correctly diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma, the negative psychological burden of living with a symptomless disease and the hope for avelumab to be a successful therapy. During the trial, most patients reported an increased or continued sense of hope and willingness to fight metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma. Patients who self-reported disease improvement (n = 12) also reported stability or improvement in physical well-being and ability to do daily activities, having more energy, worrying less and being optimistic. Six patients who reported their condition as stable (n = 4) or worsened (n = 3) reported a worsening of physical well-being. Nine patients reported fatigue/tiredness on the day of and after receiving avelumab. Baseline and longitudinal experiences were similar across countries.
conclusionsThis study suggests that patients experience perceptible benefits in physical and psychological well-being following treatment success with first-line avelumab in metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.