Prognosis in stage II melanoma of the head and neck depends on the histological subtype
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Updated: Jul 22, 2025
A 3D Organotypic Melanoma Spheroid Skin Model
Published on: May 18, 2018
Sophie Jasper1, Ulrike Keim1, Ulrike Leiter1
1Department of Dermatology, Center for Dermatooncology, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Background And Objectives:
The melanoma guideline is mainly based on the AJCC stage. There is no difference according to histological subtypes such as superficial spreading melanoma (SSM), lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM) or nodular malignant melanoma (NM). We aimed to evaluate whether patients with LMM have a different clinical course from patients with SSM/NM. This is particularly important as adjuvant anti-PD-1 therapy is approved for stage IIB and IIC melanoma.
Patients And Methods:
Data were extracted from the Central Registry of Malignant Melanoma. Only patients with LMM, SSM, and NM of the head and neck with primary diagnosis between 01/01/2000 and 12/31/2019 were included. Progression-free survival (PFS), melanoma-specific survival (MSS), and pattern of metastases were analyzed for the LMM group compared to SSM/NM.
Results:
The LMM cohort (n = 902) had significantly better MSS than the SSM/NM cohort (n = 604). There was no difference in PFS. The 5-year MSS of the stage II LMM cohort was 88.5% (95% CI 81.4-95.6) compared to 79.7% (95% CI 72.8-86.6) in the stage II SSM/NM cohort.
Conclusion:
It does not appear appropriate to use adjuvant therapy in stage II LMM patients to the same extent as in patients with SSM/NM.
