Background:
In the phase 3 CheckMate 76 K trial, adjuvant nivolumab significantly improved recurrence-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival versus placebo in patients with resected stage IIB/C melanoma. We report patient-reported outcomes from CheckMate 76 K.

Methods:
Change from baseline to week 53 in health-related quality of life (HRQoL), as measured using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EQ-5D-5L utility index and visual analog scale (VAS), was compared between treatment groups using linear mixed-effect models. Time to confirmed deterioration (TTCD) in HRQoL was assessed using Cox regression. Bother from side effects, as measured by the FACIT-GP5, was descriptively compared between treatment groups.

Results:
There were no clinically meaningful differences in change from baseline between treatment groups in EORTC QLQ-C30 subscales, including global health status (GHS)/quality of life (QoL; least squares mean [LSM] difference: −1.3; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: −2.9, 0.4), and EQ-5D-5L utility index (LSM difference: −0.011; 95 % CI: −0.025, 0.004) and VAS (LSM difference: −1.3; 95 % CI: −2.6, 0.0). There was no difference in TTCD for nivolumab versus placebo in EORTC QLQ-C30 GHS/QoL (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.10; 95 % CI: 0.88, 1.36) or EQ-5D-5L utility index (HR: 1.10; 95 % CI: 0.86, 1.42); however, TTCD in EQ-5D-5L VAS was longer with placebo (HR: 1.92; 95 % CI: 1.39, 2.64). Proportions of patients reporting severe side effect bother (“quite a bit”/“very much”) were minimal (nivolumab: 1 %–4 %; placebo: 0 %–2 %).

Conclusions:
Patients with resected stage IIB/C melanoma treated with adjuvant nivolumab demonstrated stable HRQoL and minimal bother from side effects.

Source:

John M. Kirkwood, Peter Mohr, Christoph Hoeller, Jean-Jacques Grob, Michele Del Vecchio, Jennifer Lord-Bessen, Swetha Srinivasan, Ayman Nassar, Federico Campigotto, Hannah Fairbanks, Fiona Taylor, Rachael Lawrance, Georgina V. Long, Jeffrey Weber, Patient-reported outcomes with adjuvant nivolumab versus placebo after complete resection of stage IIB/C melanoma in the randomized phase 3 CheckMate 76 K trial, European Journal of Cancer, Volume 220,
2025, 115371, ISSN 0959-8049, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejca.2025.115371.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959804925001522