Treatment patterns and characteristics of Chinese patients with advanced or resectable melanoma: a multicenter retrospective study

AIMS: Real-world treatment patterns for melanoma in China are not well characterized. We conducted this retrospective study (ChiCTR2300073793) to describe treatment patterns in Chinese patients with melanoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was conducted at five tertiary hospitals/cancer centers in China using medical chart reviews from adults receiving first-line systemic treatment for advanced (unresectable stage III/IV) melanoma, or any treatment for high-risk, resectable stage IIB/IIC/III melanoma. Eligible patients had index dates between 1 September 2018 and 31 March 2022. RESULTS: Overall, 213 patients had advanced melanoma and 387 had resectable melanoma. Among patients with advanced melanoma, approximately half received first-line monotherapy (107/213; 50.2%) with chemotherapy (48/107; 44.9%), programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) inhibitors (32/107; 29.9%), BRAF ± MEK inhibitors (24/107; 22.4%), or vascular endothelial growth factor monoclonal antibody inhibitors (VEGFIs; 3/107; 2.8%). The remaining half received combination therapy (106/213; 49.8%), most commonly with chemotherapy + VEGFI (32/106; 30.2%) or chemotherapy + PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors (20/106; 18.9%). Among patients with resectable melanoma treated with adjuvant therapy, most received monotherapy (206/257; 80.2%) with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors (86/206; 41.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate the successful integration of modern therapies into melanoma treatment in the study population.