Abstract 7195: Real-world patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and healthcare resource use in patients with metastatic melanoma (mMEL) treated with BRAF-MEK inhibitor targeted therapies (TTS) in the US
Authors: Gino K. In, Kristina Chen, Gautam Sajeev, Mu Cheng, Jingyi Chen, Joanne Chukwueke, Jessie J. Lan, James Signorovitch
Journal: Cancer Research (2025)

Abstract Background: Real-world evidence on treatment patterns and healthcare resource use (HRU) in patients receiving the targeted therapies encorafenib+binimetinib (ENCO+BINI) and dabrafenib+trametinib (DAB+TRAM) in mMEL is limited. Methods: Patients initiating ENCO+BINI or DAB+TRAM between June 2018 and March 2023 as first-line (1L) or second-line (2L) treatment for mMEL in the IQVIA Pharmetrics® Plus commercial claims database were included. Patients judged to have received neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy or treatment for another cancer prior to TT initiation (index date) were excluded. Treatment discontinuation and melanoma-specific HRU were compared between TTs, in 1L and 2L separately. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, region, index year, time from mMEL diagnosis to index, sites of metastases, NCI score, baseline all-cause HRU and prior immunotherapy (2L analysis only). Results: In 1L, at baseline, compared to the DAB+TRAM group (n=137), the ENCO+BINI group (n=117) was younger (mean age: 50.6 vs. 54.9 years) and had more patients with lymph node (63.2% vs 49.6%) or bone/bone marrow metastases (28.2% vs 17.5%). In 2L, the ENCO+BINI group (n=60) had higher melanoma-specific emergency room (ER) and outpatient (OP) visit rates than the DAB+TRAM group (n=56) during the baseline period. Treatment discontinuation for ENCO+BINI relative to DAB+TRAM was significantly lower in 1L (adjusted hazard ratio with 95% confidence interval: 0.70 [0.51, 0.96]), and numerically lower in 2L (0.69 [0.43, 1.12]). More ENCO+BINI patients remained on treatment through 12 months (36% vs 21% in 1L; 39% vs 26% in 2L) and 24 months (20% vs 9% in 1L; 27% vs 15% in 2L).Melanoma-specific inpatient (IP) admissions for ENCO+BINI relative to DAB+TRAM were significantly lower in 1L (21% versus 30% with IP admissions in IL; incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 0.45 [0.29, 0.70]) and numerically lower in 2L (37% vs 50% with IP admissions in 2L; IRR: 0.73 [0.43, 1.22]). Rates of OP visits were significantly lower for ENCO+BINI in 1L (IRR: 0.83 [0.77, 0.89]) but significantly higher in 2L (IRR: 1.33 [1.21, 1.46]). There were no differences between the groups on rates of ER visits in either 1L or 2L. Conclusion: ENCO+BINI was associated with better treatment persistence, lower IP admissions, and lower OP visits in 1L compared to DAB+TRAM, while OP visits for ENCO+BINI were higher than for DAB+TRAM in 2L. This may suggest potential differences in effectiveness or tolerability between TT regimens across treatment settings in this mMEL population. Further contextualization of reasons for resource use in these patients warrant exploration in future studies to help understand their clinical and economic implications. Citation Format: Gino K. In, Kristina Chen, Gautam Sajeev, Mu Cheng, Jingyi Chen, Joanne Chukwueke, Jessie J. Lan, James Signorovitch. Real-world patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and healthcare resource use in patients with metastatic melanoma (mMEL) treated with BRAF-MEK inhibitor targeted therapies (TTS) in the US [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2025; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2025 Apr 25-30; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2025;85(8_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 7195.