Radiotherapy of malignant melanoma

The role of radiotherapy in the treatment of malignant melanoma is limited, and surgery generally forms the mainstay of medical practice. However, there are some circumstances in which radiotherapy should be considered the treatment of choice. Symptomatic metastatic lesions in bone or brain can effectively be palliated in a substantial proportion of instances. At the current stage of our knowledge, conventionally fractionated treatment of such lesions forms the standard against which other treatments should be measured. In contrast, metastatic lesions to skin or lymph nodes that do not overlie critical normal structures probably are better treated by high-dose-per-fraction techniques. Radiotherapy may play a definitive role in the treatment of lentigo maligna. The precise optimal energy of the beam to be used remains to be defined. Slightly more penetrating radiation appears to be required for lentigo maligna melanomas. Here, too, the optimal energy remains to be defined. The treatment of nonlentigenous melanomas primarily by radiotherapy is unproved in my opinion. Certainly, the data from the Princess Margaret Hospital is exciting, but I believe it must be corroborated by a well-designed trial before it can be accepted without question. Future directions in treatment of malignant melanoma are likely to include further trials of unconventional fractionation and the use of radiosensitizing agents in conjunction with radiotherapy. The time for dermatologists and radiation therapists to cooperate in such studies is at hand.