Timely management of Melanoma may improve Overall & Melanoma-specific Mortality

A new investigation found that there were improved overall mortality rates and melanoma-specific mortality rates with the timely management of Melanoma. The study was published in the journal Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.' 

There is not much data on the effect of the delay in treatment on melanoma outcomes. So, to assess the impact of surgical treatment delays on melanoma-specific mortality (MSM) and overall mortality (OM) researchers conducted a study on melanoma patients. Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database patients with stage I to III cutaneous melanoma were identified. There were about 1,08,689 patients identified. Included cases had time from diagnosis to definitive surgery and follow-up time. Cox proportional hazards and Fine-Gray competing risks analyses were used to assess the impact of treatment delays on mortality. 

Results: 

• Treatment delays of 3 to 5 months were associated with worse MSM and any delay beyond 1 month was associated with worse OM across all stages.
• Delays of 3 to 5 months were associated with worse MSM and any delay beyond 1 month was associated with worse OM in a subgroup analysis of patients with stage I disease.
• Worse MSM was found with delays of 6+ months and worse OM was seen with delays of 3 to 5 months in patients with stage II disease.
• No significant effect of treatment delays was noted in stage III disease.