Prognosis of naevoid melanomas

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Oncology
• Pathology

Background:

• Naevoid melanoma has suspected variants with differing prognoses, but limited follow-up studies exist.
• Assessing the prognosis of naevoid melanoma subtypes is crucial for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the prognosis of different naevoid melanoma variants compared to superficial spreading melanoma (SSM).
• To conduct a multi-center study assessing melanoma survival rates across various subtypes.

Main Methods:

• A multi-center study included patients diagnosed with maturing naevoid melanoma, nodular/papillomatous naevoid melanoma, and SSM from the UK, Australia, and Italy.
• Survival data was analyzed using Cox-proportional hazard regression and Fine-Gray regression models, adjusting for clinical factors and competing risks.

Main Results:

• In UK patients, maturing naevoid melanoma showed a non-significantly lower risk of melanoma death compared to SSM (SHR 0.40, 95% CI 0.12-1.31).
• No melanoma deaths were observed in nodular/papillomatous naevoid melanoma patients in the UK, Australia, or Italy during follow-up.
• Australian and Italian cohorts also showed no melanoma deaths in naevoid melanoma patients after minimum follow-up periods.

Conclusions:

• There is no significant difference in the risk of death between naevoid melanomas and superficial spreading melanoma.
• Nodular/papillomatous naevoid melanoma patients do not appear to have a higher risk of death than SSM patients.
• The assessment of the papillomatous naevoid variant's prognosis was limited by the small number of cases.