Vismodegib improves quality of life in patients with periocular locally advanced basal cell carcinoma: subgroup analysis, STEVIE trial

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of locally advanced periocular basal cell carcinoma (POLA-BCC) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and the benefit of vismodegib treatment among participants in the Safety Events in Vismodegib (STEVIE) trial between 2011 and 2017. Methods: The STEVIE trial was conducted in patients with BCC (all anatomic locations) who were treated with vismodegib in 28-day cycles. Patients completed the Skindex-16, a validated questionnaire for the analysis symptoms, emotions, and functioning, at baseline, on day 1 of cycle 2, on day 1 of cycle 7, and at the end-of-study visit. For the present study, data mining techniques were used to construct an ophthalmic database of the STEVIE study. Skindex-16 scores were compared among patients with POLA-BCC between baseline and follow-up and between patients with POLA-BCC and patients with locally advanced BCC on other sites of the head and face (controls). Results: The cohort included 169 patients with POLA-BCC and 428 patients with non-periocular head BCC. Patients with POLA-BCC had a significantly worse overall functioning score at baseline than controls (p = 0.038) and a lower score specifically in activities of daily living (p = 0.001). At the last follow-up, patients with POLA-BCC showed significant improvement in scores for functioning (100%), symptoms (100%), and emotions (75%) relative to baseline. Conclusions: Secondary analysis of the results of the STEVIE trial showed that the HRQoL of patients with POLA-BCC is significantly impaired and can be greatly improved with vismodegib treatment.