US burden of illness associated with adjuvant therapy for stage I-III melanoma

Treatment for resected melanoma at high risk for progression has generally consisted of adjuvant interferon alfa-2b, the only adjuvant melanoma therapy approved in the US. This study sought to describe patterns of systemic adjuvant therapy, clinical outcomes, and healthcare costs among melanoma patients treated in the US community oncology setting. This study suggests that in this community oncology setting, adjuvant melanoma treatment comprised mostly interferon/peginterferon therapy. Only 25% of patients received the full recommended 1-year course of interferon therapy. These results highlight the need for better and more tolerable treatments in the adjuvant setting.