Melanoma Treatment (Professional) (cont.)
IN THIS ARTICLE
Treatment Option Overview
Melanomas that have not spread beyond the site at which they developed are highly curable. Most of these are thin lesions that have not invaded beyond the papillary dermis (Clark level I–II; Breslow thickness =1 mm). The treatment of localized melanoma is surgical excision with margins proportional to the microstage of the primary lesion; for most lesions 2 mm or less in thickness, this means 1 cm radial re-excision margins.[1,2]
Melanomas with a Breslow thickness of 2 mm or more are still curable in a significant proportion of patients, but the risk of lymph node and/or systemic metastasis increases with increasing thickness of the primary lesion. The local treatment for these melanomas is surgical excision with margins based on Breslow thickness and anatomic location. For most melanomas more than 2 mm to 4 mm in thickness, this means 2 cm to 3 cm radial excision margins. These patients should also be considered for sentinel lymph node biopsy followed by complete lymph node dissection if the sentinel node(s) are microscopically or macroscopically positive. Sentinel node biopsy should be performed prior to wide excision of the primary melanoma to ensure accurate lymphatic mapping. Patients with melanomas that have a Breslow thickness more than 4 mm should be considered for adjuvant therapy.
Some melanomas that have spread to regional lymph nodes may be curable with wide local excision of the primary tumor and removal of the involved regional lymph nodes.[3,4,5,6] A completed, multicenter, phase III randomized trial (SWOG-8593) of patients with high-risk primary limb melanoma did not show a benefit from isolated limb perfusion with melphalan in regard to disease-free survival (DFS) or overall survival (OS) when compared to surgery alone. Systemic treatment with high dose and pegylated interferon alpha-2b are approved for the adjuvant treatment of patients who have undergone a complete surgical resection but are considered to be at high risk for relapse. Prospective, randomized, controlled trials with both agents have shown an increase in relapse-free survival (RFS) but not OS when compared with observation. Clinicians should be aware that high-dose and pegylated interferon regimens have substantial side effects, and patients should be monitored closely. Adjuvant therapy with lower doses of interferon have not been consistently shown to have an impact on either RFS or OS.
Although melanoma that has spread to distant sites is rarely curable, both ipilimumab and vemurafenib have demonstrated an improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and OS in international, multicenter, randomized trials in patients with unresectable or advanced disease, resulting in U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 2011. Vemurafenib is a selective BRAF V600E kinase inhibitor, and its indication is limited to patients with a demonstrated BRAF V600E mutation by an FDA-approved test.
Interleukin-2 (IL-2) was approved by the FDA in 1998 on the basis of durable complete response (CR) rates in a minority of patients (0% –8%) with previously treated metastatic melanoma in eight phase I and II studies. No improvement in OS has been demonstrated in randomized trials.
Dacarbazine (DTIC) was approved in 1970 based on overall response rates. Phase III trials indicate an overall response rate of 10% to 20%, with rare CRs observed. An impact on OS has not been demonstrated in randomized trials.[10,11,12,13,14] Temozolomide, an oral alkylating agent, appeared to be similar to DTIC (intravenous administration) in a randomized phase III trial with a primary endpoint of OS; however, the trial was designed for superiority, and the sample size was inadequate to prove equivalency.
Patients with all stages of melanoma may be considered candidates for ongoing clinical trials. Information about ongoing clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.
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