10-year survival outcomes decrease for multiple melanoma patients

There was a significant decrease in 10-year survival for patients with multiple invasive melanomas compared with those with only one melanoma, according to recent data.

“Given increasing melanoma incidence and prolonged survival for most patients, it is vital that reliable prognostic information is available for patients with multiple invasive lesions and for their clinicians,” Danny R. Youlden, BSc, from the Cancer Council Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues wrote. “Contrary to existing evidence, our findings overwhelmingly point towards poorer outcomes in patients with multiple invasive melanomas. This in turn emphasizes the need for adequate recording of past disease in melanoma patients. Knowledge of a patient’s history of multiple melanomas should prompt careful surveillance to detect new or recurrent disease.”

Youlden and colleagues evaluated the 10-year prognosis of 32,238 patients with melanoma diagnosed between 1995 and 2008 with one or more invasive melanomas. Of these patients, 93% (29,908 patients) had one invasive melanoma, 6% (2,075 patients) had two and 1% (255 patients) had three.

They found the 10-year cause-specific survival was 89% for patients with one melanoma (95% CI, 88-90), 83% for two melanomas (95% CI, 80-86) and 67% for three melanomas (95% CI, 54-81). Compared with patients with one melanoma, the 10-year mortality hazard ratios were 2.01 for patients with two melanomas (95% CI, 1.57–2.59; P < .001) and 2.91 for patients with three melanomas (95% CI, 1.64–5.18; P < .001) after adjusting for key prognostic factors. Youlden and colleagues noted these results were remained elevated after adjusting for factors such as melanoma thickness and melanoma ulceration across all index tumor types. – by Jeff Craven

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.

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Source:

Youlden D, et al. J Investig Dermatol. 2016;doi:10.1016/j.jid.2016.03.014.