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Article History

Received: 12 September 2019

Accepted: 24 March 2020

First Online: 5 May 2020

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1964 and later versions. This study has received ethical approval from the Medical Ethical Committee of the participating sites. The participant hospitals and medical institutions are: Royal Marsden NHS foundation Trust of Fullham Road, Christie NHS foundation trust of Wilmslow Road, University Hospital Bristol NHS Trust of Horfield Road, Maidstone and Tumbridge Wells NHS Trust of Hermitage Lane, East Lancashire Hospital HNS Trust of Haslingden Road, Azienda sanitaria locale Lecce, Azienda sanitaria locale Napoli2nord, Azienda Ospidaliera Arnas Garibaldi, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Integrada de Udine, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria di Pisa, Azienda ULSS, Ospedale di Cremona, Cliniche Gavazzeni SpA, Tom Barker Centre, Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Sinai Health System, Southern Medical Day Care Centre, St John of God Murdoch Hospital, Sunshine Hospital, Ballarat Base Hospital, Westmead Hospital, St Vincent’s Health Network. A written informed consent or the equivalent was obtained from all patients, unless waived by the corresponding Ethical Committee. This article does not contain any studies with animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

: Not applicable.

: DG reports that IQVIA, employer of DG, received consulting fees from Merck & Co, Inc. during the conduct of the study. MA reports being a full time employee and stockholder of Merck & Co. Inc. during the conduct of the study. SK reports being a full time employee of Merck & Co. Inc. during the conduct of the study. IC reports personal fees from Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. during the conduct of the study; grants, personal fees and advisory board fees from Eli-Lilly, personal fees from Bristol Meyer Squibb, personal fees from Bayer, grants and personal fees from Merck Serono, personal fees from Roche, personal fees from Astra-Zeneca, grants from Janssen-Cilag, grants from Sanofi, fees from Five Prime Therapeutics, personal fees from Oncologie International, outside the submitted work. JZ reports grants and personal fees from Bayer, personal fees and travel support from Merck & Co. Inc., personal fees and travel support from Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, outside the submitted work. NL reports that IQVIA, employer of NL, received consulting fees from Merck & Co, Inc. during the conduct of the study. AF reports personal fees from Servier during the conduct of the study; grants and personal fees from Roche, grants and personal fees from Bayer, grants and personal fees from Merck & Co. Inc., grants and personal fees from Amgen, personal fees from Servier, grants from Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, personal fees from Bristol, personal fees from Lilly, outside the submitted work. All remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.