Yusuke Muto: Department of Dermatology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8574, Japan. ORCID
Yumi Kambayashi: Department of Dermatology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8574, Japan.
Hiroshi Kato: Department of Geriatric and Environmental Dermatology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan.
Satoru Mizuhashi: Department of Dermatology and Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
Takamichi Ito: Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan. ORCID
Takeo Maekawa: Department of Dermatology, Jichi Medical University Saitama Medical Center, Saitama 330-8503, Japan.
Shoichiro Ishizuki: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8575, Japan.
Hiroshi Uchi: Department of Dermato-Oncology, NHO Kyushu Cancer Center, Fukuoka 811-1395, Japan.
Shigeto Matsushita: Department of Dermato-Oncology/Dermatology, NHO Kagoshima Medical Center, Kagoshima 892-0853, Japan. ORCID
Yuki Yamamoto: Department of Dermatology, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama 641-0012, Japan.
Koji Yoshino: Department of Dermato-Oncology/Dermatology, Cancer Institute Hospital of Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Tokyo 135-8550, Japan.
Yasuhiro Fujisawa: Department of Dermatology, Ehime University, Matsuyama 791-0295, Japan.
Ryo Amagai: Department of Dermatology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8574, Japan.
Kentaro Ohuchi: Department of Dermatology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8574, Japan.
Akira Hashimoto: Department of Dermatology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8574, Japan.
Satoshi Fukushima: Department of Dermatology and Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
Yoshihide Asano: Department of Dermatology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8574, Japan.
Taku Fujimura: Department of Dermatology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8574, Japan. ORCID
BACKGROUND: Adjuvant therapy has improved the clinical prognosis for postoperative melanoma patients. However, the long-term efficacy of this therapy on the melanoma acral and mucosal subtypes has not been fully evaluated in previous trials. This study assessed the 3-year recurrence-free survival and overall survival of patients with melanoma, including the acral and mucosal subtypes, treated with anti-PD-1 antibody (Ab) or with the combination of the BRAF and MEK inhibitors dabrafenib and trametinib. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed both the 3-year time to relapse (TTR) and overall survival (OS) of 120 patients treated with anti-PD-1 antibody (Ab), or with the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib. RESULTS: The overall median TTR was 18.4 months, with a range of 0.69 to 36 months. The 3-year TTR of the acral and mucosal types was 28.1% and 38.5%, respectively. Baseline tumor thickness (TT) and acral type were associated with the TTR in subgroup analysis. Moreover, we classified 104 acral and non-acral cutaneous patients into the anti-PD-1 Abs or dabrafenib plus trametinib combined therapies cohort in multiple analyses. The acral subtype and TT were detected as important prognostic factors. In the 3-year OS, only tumor ulceration was associated with the OS in both univariate and multiple analyses. There was no significant difference in baseline or treatment-related factors of the mucosal type ( > 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that adjuvant therapy is more effective with non-acral cutaneous melanoma than either the acral or mucosal types at the 3-year TTR endpoint.
