The solved and unresolved issues of melanoma staging: A comparison of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 7th versus 8th edition.

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 9578-9578
Author(s):  
Shirin Bajaj ◽  
Anthony Collado ◽  
Una Moran ◽  
Douglas MacArthur Donnelly ◽  
Paul Johannet ◽  
...  

9578 Background: The recently revised (AJCC) Staging Manual, 8th edition, introduced changes including removal of mitotic index and addition of the IIID substage. There is active debate on the utility of this revision, especially, without the inclusion of a novel prognostic biomarker, during an era of major therapeutic shifts and amidst accrual of adjuvant clinical trials for high-risk resected primary melanoma. We examined whether re-staging primary melanoma patients using the new AJCC 8 system yielded improved prognostication as compared to AJCC 7. Methods: We compared the impact of changes in staging criteria in stage I-III melanoma patients who were prospectively enrolled in a NYU clinicopathological database between January 2010 and December 2016 with active protocol-driven follow up (FU). We assessed primary tumor category (T) and nodal status (N) according to both AJCC 7 and 8. Progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) curves were generated for both editions and then stratified by substage. We analyzed discordance using Cox Regression Models. Results: 1,379 patients (56% male, mean thickness 1.6, median FU 34.8 months) were included in the analyses. All but one patient remained in the same ‘major’ stage using AJCC 7 and 8 (stage I- 998; II- 224, 225; III- 157, 156) whereas 44% of stage III substage classifications were discordant comparing AJCC 7 to 8. Despite removing mitoses as a criterion for Stage I, there was no significant change between editions in PFS/OS when evaluating major and substages of stage I. Stage IIC patients had worse PFS/OS than stage IIIA patients in AJCC 8 (PFS p = 0.04, OS p = 0.02). AJCC 8, which implemented four rather than three substages, had improved PFS prognostication (c-index = 0.59 vs 0.66, p = 0.05 for AJCC 7 vs 8). Conclusions: Our results reinforce the added value of AJCC 8 compared to 7, as removing an operator dependent variable is more practical for stage I, and increased influence of thickness/ulceration and the addition of a new substage is more prognostically informative for stage III. Nevertheless, the poor prognosis of stage IIC patients, despite nodal negative disease, continues to be an unaddressed gap within our current staging framework.

1983 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
C M Balch ◽  
S J Soong ◽  
T M Murad ◽  
J W Smith ◽  
W A Maddox ◽  
...  

A multifactorial analysis of 200 cutaneous melanoma patients with distant metastasis (stage III) was performed on 13 clinical and pathological factors using the Cox regression analysis. There were only three dominant prognostic variables that independently predicted the patient's clinical course: (1) number of metastatic sites (1 vs. 2 vs. greater than or equal to 3, p less than 0.00001), (2) remission duration (less than 12 mo vs. greater than or equal to 12 mo, p = 0.0186), and (3) the location of the metastases (visceral vs. nonvisceral vs. combined, p = 0.0192). Factors that were not significant in the multifactorial analysis included the patients' age and sex, the site of the primary melanoma, the sequence of metastases, and all histopathological features of the primary melanoma (thickness, level of invasion, ulceration, growth pattern, pigmentation, and lymphocyte infiltration). For a single metastatic site, the 1-yr survival rate was 36%, while it was only 13% for 2 sites, and 0% for greater than or equal to 3 sites (p less than 0.00001). The 1-yr survival for patients was 40% for nonvisceral sites (skin, subcutaneous, distant lymph nodes) compared to only 11% for visceral metastases and 8% for combined sites (p less than 0.00001). Pulmonary metastases were associated with a significantly higher survival rate than metastatic melanoma in any other visceral site. The most common first site of distant metastases (either alone or in combination) was skin (38%), lung (36%), liver (20%), and brain (20%). The skin, subcutaneous and distant lymph node group was the first site of metastases in 59% of patients. This finding emphasizes the importance of careful physical exams in routine metastatic evaluations. Only a minority (25%) of stage I patients progressed to stage III disease after a median interval of 2.8 years. In contrast, the majority (75%) of melanoma patients with nodal metastases (stage II) progressed to stage III disease after a median duration of only 11 mo. Of the patients who eventually developed stage III disease, 95% of those who initially presented with stage II disease progressed within 3 yr, while stage I patients who progressed to stage III did not reach a 95% cumulative incidence until 8 yr.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e21587-e21587
Author(s):  
Ting Ye ◽  
Jieying Zhang ◽  
Xinyi Liu ◽  
Mengmei Yang ◽  
Yuhan Zhou ◽  
...  

e21587 Background: Immunotherapies targeting immune checkpoint receptors have become the cornerstone of systemic treatment options for malignant melanoma. The response to these immunotherapies may correlate with driver mutations. MAP2K1/2 genes are mutated in approximately 10% of melanomas, however, the impact of MAP2K1/2 gene alterations on the efficiency of immunotherapy has not been clarified. Methods: Six metastatic melanoma clinical cohorts treated with ICIs were included to investigate the association between clinical efficacy of immunotherapy and MAP2K1/2 mutations. Survival analyses were conducted in cohorts receiving two kinds of ICB agents, namely anti-CTLA-4 or anti-PD-1. RNA expression profiling from these cohorts and from the TCGA melanoma cohort were used to explore the potential mechanism related to immune activation. Results: In an independent anti-CTLA-4-treated cohort (n = 110), we found that MAP2K1/2 mutations are predictive of high objective response rate (17.6% vs 1.3%, p = 0.0185) and long progression-free survival [median OS, 49.2 months vs 8.3 months; hazard ratio (HR) = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.15–0.91; p = 0.0307] and overall survival (median PFS, 19.4 months vs 2.8 months; HR = 0.2; 95% CI, 0.05–0.83; p = 0.0262). This predictive value was further validated in a pooled anti-CTLA-4-treated cohort (n = 235) in terms of overall survival (median OS, 49.3 months vs 22.0 months; HR = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.22–0.91; p = 0.0255). However, no correlation between MAP2K1/2 mutations and overall survival was observed in the anti-PD-1-treated cohort (n = 285). Subgroup Cox regression analysis indicated that MAP2K-mutated patients receive less benefit from the anti-PD-1 monotherapy than from the anti-CTLA-4 treatment (median OS, 27.0 months vs 49.3 months; HR = 3.26; 95% CI, 1.18–9.02; p = 0.0225), which was contrary to the result obtained for the total population. Furthermore, transcriptome profiling analysis revealed that MAP2K-mutated tumors are enriched in CD8+ T cells, B cells, and neutrophil cells and also express high levels of CD33 and IL10, which might be the underlying mechanism for melanoma patients with MAP2K1/2-mutated benefit more from anti-CTLA-4 treatment. Conclusions: We identified mutations in MAP2K1/2 genes as the independent predictive factors for anti-CTLA-4 therapy in melanoma patients and found that anti-CTLA-4 treatment in patient harbouring MAP2K1/2 mutations might be more effective than the anti-PD-1 therapy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.P. Zanella ◽  
M. Camandaroba ◽  
C.A. Mello ◽  
S. Kayano ◽  
M.D. Donadio ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Red blood cells transfusions (RBCT) have been associated with worse oncological outcomes in distinct tumor types. Inhibition of the activities of Natural Killer (NK) and cytotoxic T cells are the supposed mechanisms underlying a transfusion-related immune modulation. Because the impact of RBCT on the outcomes of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA) is uncertain, we aimed to evaluate its influence on the progression-free survival of patients with SCCA treated with definitive chemoradiation (ChRT). Methodology: This was a retrospective study of consecutive SCCA patients treated with definitive ChRT. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival according to receipt of at least one unit of RBCT. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses for progression-free survival were performed to evaluate prognostic factors. Results: From February 2003 to April 2018, 136 patients were included. The median age was 59 years, 77.2% was female and 13.9% had HIV infection. Transfused patients were more frequently female and had stage III tumors. Thirty-one (22.8%) patients received a RBCT, increasing the mean hemoglobin levels from 7.6 to 8.5g/dl. With a median follow-up time of 48 months, the median progression-free survival was 36.5 versus 146.9 months for transfused and non-transfused, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, RBCT ([HR]: 6.7 [IC] 95% 3.4-13.2, p<0.001) and stage III (HR: 3.0 [IC] 95% 1.4-6.5, p =0.005) were associated with inferior progression-free survival as compared to non-transfused and stage I-II, respectively. While the rates of complete responses and persistent local disease were similar between the groups, receipt of RBCT was significantly associated with progression (69.2% versus 14.9%; p < 0.00001).Conclusion: Our study suggests that the receipt of RBCT and clinical stage III disease were significantly associated with inferior progression free survival. RBCT or persistent anemia after transfusion did not influence the rates of complete response, but patients who received RBCT presented significantly higher rates of tumor progression.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Ye ◽  
Jie-Ying Zhang ◽  
Xin-Yi Liu ◽  
Yu-Han Zhou ◽  
Si-Yue Yuan ◽  
...  

BackgroundMAP2K1/2 genes are mutated in approximately 8% of melanoma patients; however, the impact of MAP2K1/2 gene alterations on the efficiency of immunotherapy has not been clarified. This study focused on the correlation between MAP2K1/2 gene mutations and the treatment response.MethodsSix metastatic melanoma clinical cohorts treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors [anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) or anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)] were recruited in this study. RNA expression profiling results from each of these six cohorts and the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) melanoma cohort were analysed to explore the mechanism related to immune activation.ResultsCompared to patients with wild-type MAP2K1/2, those with MAP2K1/2 mutations in an independent anti-CTLA-4-treated cohort had higher objective response rates, longer progression-free survival, and longer overall survival (OS). These findings were further validated in a pooled anti-CTLA-4-treated cohort in terms of the OS. However, there was no correlation between MAP2K1/2 mutations and OS in the anti-PD-1-treated cohort. Subgroup Cox regression analysis suggested that patients with MAP2K1/2 mutations received fewer benefits from anti-PD-1 monotherapy than from anti-CTLA-4 treatment. Furthermore, transcriptome profiling analysis revealed that melanoma tumours with MAP2K mutation was enriched in CD8+ T cells, B cells, and neutrophil cells, also expressed high levels of CD33 and IL10, implying a potential mechanism underlying the benefit of melanoma patients with MAP2K1/2 mutations from anti-CTLA-4 treatment.ConclusionsMAP2K1/2 mutations were identified as an independent predictive factor for anti-CTLA-4 therapy in melanoma patients. Anti-CTLA-4 treatment might be more effective than anti-PD-1 therapy for patients with MAP2K1/2-mutated melanoma.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i19-i20
Author(s):  
Lauren Haydu ◽  
Serigne Lo ◽  
Jennifer McQuade ◽  
Isabella Glitza ◽  
Hussein Tawbi ◽  
...  

Abstract Among common solid tumors, melanoma has the highest risk of CNS metastasis. Improved understanding of the incidence, risk factors, and timing of CNS metastasis is needed to inform surveillance strategies for at-risk patients. Clinical data were extracted from two institutions for AJCC 8th edition stage III melanoma patients, diagnosed from 1998–2014 who had negative baseline CNS imaging within 4 months of diagnosis. The cumulative incidence of CNS metastasis was calculated in the presence of the competing risk of death from stage III presentation, and at benchmark time points 1-, 2-, and 5-years post-diagnosis. The cohort (N=1,918) consisted of patients from major melanoma centers in the US (50.6%) and Australia (49.4%). The first site of distant metastasis was CNS only for 3.9%, CNS and extra-cranial sites (ECS) for 1.9%, and ECS only for 31.2% of patients (N=1918); 15.5% of patients who developed distant metastases (N=708) had CNS involvement at first diagnosis of stage IV disease. Cumulative incidence of CNS metastasis from stage III diagnosis was 3.7% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 2.9–4.6) at 1-year; 9.6% (95% CI: 8.3–11.0) at 2-years; and 15.9% (95% CI: 14.2–17.7) at 5-years. In multivariable analyses, risk of CNS metastasis was significantly higher for males; younger patients; increasing AJCC stage group; scalp primary tumor site, acral melanoma subtype, and increased primary tumor mitotic rate. Conditional analyses showed that only high primary tumor mitotic rate (&gt;9 per mm2) was significantly associated with risk of subsequent CNS metastasis among patients who survived without CNS recurrence 1-, 2-, and 5-years after the diagnosis of stage III disease. Similar rates of CNS metastasis were observed between these two large, geographically-distinct stage III melanoma patient cohorts. These results provide a framework for developing evidence-based surveillance strategies and for evaluating the impact of contemporary adjuvant therapies on the risk of melanoma CNS metastasis.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saveria Tropea ◽  
Paolo Del Fiore ◽  
Andrea Maurichi ◽  
Roberto Patuzzo ◽  
Mario Santinami ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The management of melanoma patients with metastatic sentinel nodes (SN) is evolving based on the results of trials questioning the impact of completion lymph node dissection (CLND) and demonstrating the efficacy of new adjuvant treatments. In this landscape, new prognostic tools for fine risk stratification are eagerly sought to optimize the therapeutic path of these patients. Methods: A retrospective cohort of 2,086 patients treated with CLND after a positive SN biopsy in thirteen Italian Melanoma Centers was reviewed. Overall survival (OS) was the outcome of interest; included independent variables were the following: age, gender, primary melanoma site, Breslow thickness, ulceration, sentinel node tumor burden (SNTB), number of positive SN, non-sentinel lymph nodes (NSN) status. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were performed using the Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results: The 3-year, 5-year and 10-year OS rates were 79 %, 70% and 54%, respectively. At univariate analysis, all variables, except for primary melanoma body site, were found to be statistically significant prognostic factors. Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that older age (P< 0.0001), male gender (P= 0.04), increasing Breslow thickness (P <0.0001), presence of ulceration (P =0.004), SNTB size (P <0.0001) and metastatic NSN (P <0.0001) were independent negative predictors of OS. Conclusion: The above results were utilized to build a nomogram in order to ease the practical implementation of our prognostic model, which might improve treatment personalization.


Author(s):  
L. Susok ◽  
S. Said ◽  
D. Reinert ◽  
R. Mansour ◽  
C. H. Scheel ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) in patients with cutaneous melanoma (CM) under immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. Methods PIV and SII were calculated before the start of ICI therapy and at time of progression/death in patients with metastatic CM (stage III/IV). Sex–age-matched CM patients in stage I/II and healthy subjects (HC) served as controls. Results The median PIV of stage III/IV patients was significantly (P = 0.0011) higher than in stage I/II patients and HC. SII was significantly (P = 0.00044) lower in HC than in CM patients. At baseline, PIV and SII did significantly correlate with lactate dehydrogenase (P = 0.045/0.017). However, ROC curve statistics revealed that SII and PIV were not significantly associated with clinical parameters, including best response to ICI treatment (P = 0.87/0.64), progression-free survival (P = 0.73/0.91), and melanoma-specific survival (P = 0.13/0.17). Moreover, there were no significant changes of PIV and SII from baseline to progression/death (P = 0.38/0.52). Conclusions Even though both immune-inflammation biomarkers showed some power to differentiate between CM stages and HC, respectively, PIV and SII seem not to be significant predictors for clinical outcome measures of CM patients under ICI therapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Kappler ◽  
Michael A. Morgan ◽  
Philipp Ivanyi ◽  
Stefan J. Brunotte ◽  
Arnold Ganser ◽  
...  

AbstractTo date, only few data concerning the biologically active, free form of testosterone (FT) are available in metastatic prostate cancer (mPC) and the impact of FT on disease, therapy and outcome is largely unknown. We retrospectively studied the effect of docetaxel on FT and total testosterone (TT) serum levels in 67 mPC patients monitored between April 2008 and November 2020. FT and TT levels were measured before and weekly during therapy. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints were prostate-specific antigen response and radiographic response (PSAR, RR), progression-free survival (PFS), FT/TT levels and safety. Median FT and TT serum levels were completely suppressed to below the detection limit during docetaxel treatment (FT: from 0.32 to < 0.18 pg/mL and TT: from 0.12 to < 0.05 ng/mL, respectively). Multivariate Cox regression analyses identified requirement of non-narcotics, PSAR, complete FT suppression and FT nadir values < 0.18 pg/mL as independent parameters for PFS. Prior androgen-receptor targeted therapy (ART), soft tissue metastasis and complete FT suppression were independent prognostic factors for OS. FT was not predictive for treatment outcome in mPC patients with a history of ART.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 744-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nidhi Tandon ◽  
Surbhi Sidana ◽  
S. Vincent Rajkumar ◽  
Morie A. Gertz ◽  
Francis K. Buadi ◽  
...  

Abstract We evaluated the impact of achieving a rapid response in 840 newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients from 2004 to 2015. Rates of very good partial response (VGPR) or better were 29% (240/840) after 2 cycles of treatment, 42% (350/840) after 4 cycles of treatment, and 66% (552/840) as best response. Early responders after 2 cycles of treatment had higher rates of light chain disease, anemia, renal failure, International Staging System (ISS) stage III disease, and high-risk cytogenetics, especially t(4;14), and were more likely to have received triplet therapy and undergo transplant. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were not different among patients with ≥VGPR and &lt;VGPR after 2 cycles (PFS, 28 vs 30 months, P = .6; OS, 78 vs 96 months, P = .1) and 4 cycles (PFS, 31 vs 29 months; OS, 89 vs 91 months, P = .9), although both were improved, with ≥VGPR as best response (PFS, 33 vs 22 months, P &lt; .001; OS, 102 vs 77 months, P = .003). On multivariate analysis stratified by transplant status, achievement of ≥VGPR after 2 cycles was not associated with improved PFS (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval]; transplant cohort, 1.1 [0.7-1.6]; nontransplant cohort, 1.2 [0.8-1.7]) or OS (transplant cohort, 1.6 [0.9-2.9]; nontransplant cohort, 1.5 [1.0-2.4]). Covariates in the model included high-risk cytogenetics, ISS stage III, triplet therapy, creatinine ≥2 mg/dL, light chain disease, and age. Although patients with high-risk disease are more likely to achieve early response, a rapid achievement of a deep response by itself does not affect long-term outcomes.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludovic Jean Wrobel ◽  
Angèle Gayet-Ageron ◽  
Frédérique-Anne Le Gal

Background: The regulation of melanoma by noradrenergic signaling has gain attention since pre-clinical and clinical studies suggested a benefit of using beta-blockers to control disease progression. We need to confirm that human melanoma recapitulates the mechanisms described from pre-clinical models. Methods: The sources and targets of norepinephrine in the microenvironment of 20 human melanoma samples was investigated using immunostaining. The effect of an exposure to beta-blockers on immune cell type distribution and expression of immune response markers was assessed with immunostaining on 212 human primary melanoma. A statistical analysis explored the effect of an exposure to beta-blockers on progression free survival, melanoma related survival, and overall survival on the 286 eligible patients. Results: Tumor cells and macrophages may be a source of norepinephrine in melanoma microenvironment. Tumors from patients exposed to wide spectrum beta-blockers recapitulate the increased infiltration of T-lymphocytes and the increased production of granzyme B observed in pre-clinical models. An exposure to beta-blockers is associated with a better outcome in our cohort of melanoma patients. Conclusion: This study shows the association between an exposure to wide spectrum beta-blockers and markers of an effective anti-tumor immune response as well as the protective effect of beta-blockers in human melanoma patients.


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