Introduction: In Poland, it is uniquely possible to assess real effects of the introduction of new oncological therapies on the overall survival in patients as such therapies are funded by one payer only - the National Health Fund (NHF). Data collected by the NHF make it possible to analyse the survival of all patients who were diagnosed with melanoma.
Aim: The paper presents findings of a retrospective analysis of the efficacy of systemic treatment in patients with malignant melanoma of the skin in Poland with regard to the overall survival.
Material and methods: The analysis of the overall survival was performed with the Kaplan-Meier method in the population receiving systemic treatment. Three groups of patients were analysed. Group 1 included all patients who had started systemic treatment between 1 March 2011 and 1 March 2015: 1,258 patients. The median overall survival was 8.4 months. Group 2 included 444 patients who had started systemic treatment between 1 March 2011 and 28 February 2013. The median overall survival was 6.6 months in this group. Group 3 included 814 patients who had started systemic treatment between 1 March 2013 and 1 March 2015 and included 546 patients who were also treated in drug programmes with ipilimumab and vemurafenib (approx. 67%). The median overall survival was 9.4 months.
Results: A difference in the overall survival between group 3 and 2 was statistically significant (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: The introduction of vemurafenib and ipilimumab into systemic treatment in Poland using public funds had a significant effect on the prolongation of the overall survival in patients with malignant melanoma of the skin.
Keywords: Poland; ipilimumab; melanoma treatment; vemurafenib.
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