Prevalence, Immunotherapy Use in Anorectal Mucosal Melanoma Found to Be Increasing

Source: Oncology Nurse Advisor, April 2019

Prevalence of anorectal mucosal melanoma (ARMM) has increased. In addition, use of immunotherapy to treat the disease has also increased, over an 11-year period, results from a retrospective study has shown. This study was published in the World Journal of Surgery.

Mucosal melanomas in general, and ARMM in particular, represent rare forms of melanoma with very poor prognoses. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of this disease and discern whether specific management practice trends exist.

The National Cancer Database (NCDB), a nationwide, hospital registry, clinical oncology database jointly sponsored by the American College of Surgeons and the American Cancer Society, was interrogated for cases of ARMM captured during the period from 2004 to 2015. Information on patient demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, comorbidities, treatments, and clinical outcomes, as well as hospital and tumor characteristics (ie, size and nodal status) were collected.