UK study maps treatment patterns and outcomes in loco-regional recurrent melanoma

The research, published in BMC Cancer, is a retrospective, observational cohort study covering patients diagnosed with loco-regional recurrence of melanoma between 2014 and 2022. The authors note that limited guidance exists for treating such recurrences, particularly as immunotherapy has increasingly been used in the adjuvant setting, and that outcomes in this patient group have not been well characterised.

The study included 133 patients. The median age at diagnosis was 68 years, and 51.1% were male. Most patients, 92.5%, had a cutaneous melanoma as their first-ever melanoma diagnosis.

Treatment data were extracted to understand sequencing, and survival endpoints included recurrence-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival and overall survival, analysed with Kaplan-Meier methods.

Surgical intervention emerged as the predominant treatment. However, immunotherapy was also widely used following surgery, reflecting the period of evolving systemic therapy captured by the study window.

Survival figures offer a mixed picture. The cumulative percentage of patients alive at 12 months was 93.0%, with a 95% confidence interval of 88.9 to 97.5. The median recurrence-free survival was 8.7 months, with a 95% confidence interval of 5.6 to 14.7 months.

Distant spread remained a substantial risk. Approximately half of patients, 49.0% (95% CI: 38.1 to 60.8), did not develop a distant metastasis during the follow-up period, meaning a comparable proportion did.

The authors emphasise that the study provides historical context rather than an evaluation of any specific therapy. As a retrospective cohort design, it describes patterns of care and observed outcomes during a period when adjuvant immunotherapy use was changing, and it does not establish the efficacy of any particular treatment approach.

The study’s conclusions highlight the characteristics of patients with loco-regional recurrence of melanoma and document treatment patterns and outcomes during a decade of shifting systemic therapy practice. The findings may serve as a benchmark for future research into the management of this recurrence pattern, for which formal treatment guidance remains limited.

Subject of Research: Real-world treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in patients with loco-regional recurrent melanoma in the United Kingdom

Article Title: Treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in patients with loco-regional recurrent melanoma in the United Kingdom

Article References: Pender, A., Booth, A., Berfeld, N., Omeife, H., Talbot, T., Carser, J., Young, K., Sheri, A., Lucas, T., Cairns, G., Vekeria, S., & Vaz, L. (2026). Treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in patients with loco-regional recurrent melanoma in the United Kingdom. BMC Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-026-17126-4

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12885-026-17126-4

Keywords: melanoma, loco-regional recurrence, immunotherapy, surgery, recurrence-free survival, overall survival, retrospective cohort study, United Kingdom, BMC Cancer, distant metastasis-free survival, adjuvant therapy, Treatment