Recurrent Melanoma: Navigating the Clinical Pathways
Source: Med Page Today, December 2022
“Medical Journeys" is a set of clinical resources reviewed by physicians, meant for the medical team as well as the patients they serve. Each episode of this 12-part journey through a disease state contains both a physician guide and a downloadable/printable patient resource. “Medical Journeys" chart a path each step of the way for physicians and patients and provide continual resources and support, as the caregiver team navigates the course of a disease.
Advances in the treatment of melanoma have dramatically improved patient outcomes, particularly for those with more advanced disease stages. Unfortunately, however, regardless of stage at diagnosis, recurrence is not uncommon, despite early-stage disease that is curable with surgery alone. Additionally, patients with advanced disease at diagnosis may not benefit from the initial line of treatment or may derive only partial benefit, necessitating consideration of treatment options for progressive disease.
Across all stages of melanoma, the recurrence risk opens in a new tab or window ranges from about 2% to 5%. The risk of melanoma recurrence decreases opens in a new tab or window with time. In a retrospective study opens in a new tab or window of 1,568 stage I melanomas, 80% of 293 recurrences developed within 3 years of the initial diagnosis, but about 8% developed 5 to 10 years after the ini