SKA3 overexpression predicts poor outcomes in skin cutaneous melanoma patients

e21516 Background: The clinical efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors as an adjuvant treatment for Asian melanoma patients has not yet been determined. Methods: Thus, this single-centre, retrospective study analysed the clinical data of 90 Chinese patients with completely resected, stage III cutaneous or acral melanoma who received either adjuvant PD-1 inhibitor or high-dose interferon α-2b (HDI). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to control baseline differences between the two treatment groups. The primary end point was recurrence-free survival (RFS), and the secondary end points included distance metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and incidence of first distant metastatic sites. Results: Anti-PD-1 treatment resulted in significantly longer RFS (18-month RFS, 53.3% versus 26.7%; 95% CI, 0.097-0.975; P < 0.05) and DMFS (18-month DMFS, 70.9% versus 46.1%; 95% CI, 0.13-0.945; P < 0.05) than HDI in cutaneous melanoma patients. However, adjuvant anti-PD-1 treatment had no advantage over HDI in acral melanoma patients (18-month RFS, 30.0% versus 35.9%; P > 0.05; 18-month DMFS, 36.5% versus 63.6%; P > 0.05). The incidence of lung metastasis at first in the anti-PD-1 group was found to be significantly lower (12.5% versus 48.5%; P < 0.05) in cutaneous melanoma patients than in acral melanoma patients, but no difference in metastatic sites were observed between the two treatment groups among acral melanoma patients. The incidence of treatment-related AEs was similar between the two treatment groups. Conclusions: In conclusion, adjuvant anti-PD-1 treatment was well tolerated and yielded a significantly better prognosis than HDI in Chinese patients with stage IIIB/C cutaneous melanoma, but a significant difference was not observed in those with acral melanoma.

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Modulation of risk of cutaneous melanoma patients by variants in STAT3 gene and functional analysis

Annals of Oncology ◽

10.1093/annonc/mdz238.049 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 ◽

pp. v14-v15

Author(s):

G.V.B. Gomez ◽

L.M.O. Monteiro ◽

R.S. Rocha ◽

G.J. Lourenço ◽

C.S.P. Lima

Keyword(s):

Functional Analysis ◽

Cutaneous Melanoma ◽

Melanoma Patients

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Combination of Pembrolizumab with Electrochemotherapy in Cutaneous Metastases from Melanoma: A Comparative Retrospective Study from the InspECT and Slovenian Cancer Registry

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers13174289 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (17) ◽

pp. 4289

Author(s):

Luca G. Campana ◽

Barbara Peric ◽

Matteo Mascherini ◽

Romina Spina ◽

Christian Kunte ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cancer Registry ◽

Immune Checkpoint ◽

Cutaneous Melanoma ◽

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Locoregional Therapy ◽

Tumor Control ◽

Melanoma Metastases ◽

Melanoma Patients ◽

Cutaneous Melanoma Metastases

Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is an effective locoregional therapy for cutaneous melanoma metastases and has been safely combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors in preliminary experiences. Since ECT is known to induce immunogenic cell death, its combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors might be beneficial. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of ECT on cutaneous melanoma metastases in combination with pembrolizumab. We undertook a retrospective matched cohort analysis of stage IIIC–IV melanoma patients, included in the International Network for sharing practices of ECT (InspECT) and the Slovenian Cancer Registry. We compared the outcome of patients who received the following treatments: (a) pembrolizumab alone, (b) pembrolizumab plus ECT, and (c) ECT. The groups were matched for age, sex, performance status, and size of skin metastases. The local objective response rate (ORR) was higher in the pembrolizumab-ECT group than in the pembrolizumab group (78% and 39%, p < 0.001). The 1 year local progression-free survival (LPFS) rates were 86% and 51% (p < 0.001), and the 1 year systemic PFS rates were 64% and 39%, respectively (p = 0.034). The 1 year overall survival (OS) rates were 88% and 64%, respectively (p = 0.006). Our results suggest that skin-directed therapy with ECT improves superficial tumor control in melanoma patients treated with pembrolizumab. Interestingly, we observed longer PFS and OS in the pembrolizumab-ECT group than in the pembrolizumab group. These findings warrant prospective confirmation.

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Volume increase of spleen in melanoma patients undergoing immune checkpoint blockade

Immunotherapy ◽

10.2217/imt-2021-0022 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Susok ◽

Dominik Reinert ◽

Carsten Lukas ◽

Eggert Stockfleth ◽

Thilo Gambichler

Keyword(s):

Immune Checkpoint ◽

Cutaneous Melanoma ◽

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽

Clinical Parameters ◽

Spleen Volume ◽

Volume Increase ◽

Computer Tomographic ◽

Melanoma Patients

Aim: To find out whether treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) results in volume increase of the spleen. Patient & methods: We studied 49 stage III and IV melanoma patients with an indication for ICIs. Computer tomographic-assisted volumetry of spleens was performed. Results: After 3 months, median spleen volume was significantly increased when compared with the baseline volume. At 3 months, the increase of spleen volume was significantly associated with the use of ipilimumab and ipilimumab plus nivolumab. There was no significant association between spleen volume increase and clinical parameters. Conclusion: The median spleen volume of patients with cutaneous melanoma increases during the first months of ICI treatment, which was particularly attributable to the use of anti-CTLA-4 and anti-CTLA-4/anti-PD-1 regimens.

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The MELFO Study: A Multicenter, Prospective, Randomized Clinical Trial on the Effects of a Reduced Stage-Adjusted Follow-Up Schedule on Cutaneous Melanoma IB–IIC Patients—Results After 3 Years

Annals of Surgical Oncology ◽

10.1245/s10434-019-07825-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 27 (5) ◽

pp. 1407-1417 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Eric A. Deckers ◽

Josette E. H. M. Hoekstra-Weebers ◽

Samantha Damude ◽

Anne Brecht Francken ◽

Sylvia ter Meulen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cutaneous Melanoma ◽

Well Being ◽

Significant Group ◽

Event Scale ◽

Free Survival ◽

Stage Ib ◽

Ajcc Stage ◽

Patient Reported ◽

Melanoma Patients

Abstract Background This study compares well-being, recurrences, and deaths of early-stage cutaneous melanoma patients in follow-up, as recommended in the Dutch guideline, with that of patients in a stage-adjusted reduced follow-up schedule, 3 years after diagnosis, as well as costs. Methods Overall, 180 eligible pathological American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage IB–IIC, sentinel node staged, melanoma patients (response rate = 87%, 48% male, median age 57 years), randomized into a conventional (CSG, n = 93) or experimental (ESG, n = 87) follow-up schedule group, completed patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) at diagnosis (T1): State-Trait Anxiety Inventory–State version (STAI-S), Cancer Worry Scale (CWS), Impact of Event Scale (IES), and RAND-36 (Mental and Physical Component scales [PCS/MCS]). Three years later (T3), 110 patients (CSG, n = 56; ESG, n = 54) completed PROMs, while 42 declined (23%). Results Repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) showed a significant group effect on the IES (p = 0.001) in favor of the ESG, and on the RAND-36 PCS (p = 0.02) favoring the CSG. Mean IES and CWS scores decreased significantly over time, while those on the RAND-36 MCS and PCS increased. Effect sizes were small. Twenty-five patients developed a recurrence or second primary melanoma, of whom 13 patients died within 3 years. Cox proportional hazards models showed no differences between groups in recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] 0.71 [0.32–1.58]; p = 0.400) and disease-free survival (HR 1.24 [0.42–3.71]; p = 0.690). Costs per patient after 3 years (computed for 77.3% of patients) were 39% lower in the ESG. Conclusion These results seemingly support the notion that a stage-adjusted reduced follow-up schedule forms an appropriate, safe, and cost-effective alternative for pathological AJCC stage IB–IIC melanoma patients to the follow-up regimen as advised in the current melanoma guideline.

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