Top

Published in:

01-12-2014 | Melanomas

Another Brick in the Wall: Toward a Better Understanding of Melanoma of Unknown Primary

Authors: David W. Ollila, MD, Michael O. Meyers, MD

Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology | Issue 13/2014

Excerpt

Melanoma of unknown primary (MUP) occurs in 1–15 % of patients with clinically detectable lymph node metastases, but as a group have not been well characterized and a number of questions remain, ranging from pathophysiology to prognosis to treatment paradigms.1‐7 In this issue of the Annals of Surgical Oncology, Gos and colleagues (reference) analyze the molecular characteristics (BRAF, NRAS, and KIT mutation analysis) of MUP in 103 patients presenting with palpable nodal metastases and treated with complete lymphadenectomy at four Central and Eastern European Cancer Centers. This relatively homogenous group of patients, evaluated over an 18 year period (1992–2010), with long follow-up (median 53 months) and not treated with BRAF or MEK inhibitors, allows us to draw insights into the behavior of a group of patients in whom the biology of disease is not well understood. …

Morton DL, Wanek L, Nizze JA, Elashoff RM, Wong JH. Improved long-term survival after lymphadenectomy of melanoma metastatic to regional nodes Analysis of prognostic factors in 1134 patients from the John Wayne Cancer Clinic. Ann Surg. 1991;214(4):491–9. discussion 499–501.PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef

Katz KA, Jonasch E, Hodi FS, Soiffer R, Kwitkiwski K, Sober AJ, et al. Melanoma of unknown primary: experience at Massachusetts General Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Melanoma Res. 2005;15(1):77–82.PubMedCrossRef

Jonk A, Kroon BB, Rumke P, Mooi WJ, Hart AA, van Dongen JA. Lymph node metastasis from melanoma with an unknown primary site. Br J Surg. 1990;77(6):665–8.PubMedCrossRef

Cormier JN, Xing Y, Feng L, Huang X, Davidson L, Gershenwald JE, et al. Metastatic melanoma to lymph nodes in patients with unknown primary sites. Cancer. 2006;106(9):2012–20.PubMedCrossRef

Rutkowski P, Nowecki ZI, Dziewirski W, Zdzienicki M, Pienkowski A, Salamacha M, et al. Melanoma without a detectable primary site with metastases to lymph nodes. Dermatol Surg. 2010;36(6):868–76.PubMedCrossRef

Lee CC, Faries MB, Wanek LA, Morton DL. Improved survival after lymphadenectomy for nodal metastasis from an unknown primary melanoma. J Clin Oncol. 2008;26(4):535–41.PubMedCrossRef

Kamposioras K, Pentheroudakis G, Pectasides D, Pavlidis N. Malignant melanoma of unknown primary site. To make the long story short. A systematic review of the literature. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2011;78(2):112–26.PubMedCrossRef

Curtin JA, Fridlyand J, Kageshita T, Patel HN, Busam KJ, Kutzner H, et al. Distinct sets of genetic alterations in melanoma. N Engl J Med. 2005;353(20):2135–47.PubMedCrossRef

Curtin JA, Busam K, Pinkel D, Bastian BC. Somatic activation of KIT in distinct subtypes of melanoma. J Clin Oncol. 2006;24(26):4340–6.PubMedCrossRef

10.

Long GV, Menzies AM, Nagrial AM, Haydu LE, Hamilton AL, Mann GJ, et al. Prognostic and clinicopathologic associations of oncogenic BRAF in metastatic melanoma. J Clin Oncol. 2011;29(10):1239–46.PubMedCrossRef

11.

Colombino M, Capone M, Lissia A, Cossu A, Rubino C, De Giorgi V, et al. BRAF/NRAS mutation frequencies among primary tumors and metastases in patients with melanoma. J Clin Oncol. 2012;30(20):2522–9.PubMedCrossRef

12.

Egberts F, Bergner I, Kruger S, Haag J, Behrens HM, Hauschild A, et al. Metastatic melanoma of unknown primary resembles the genotype of cutaneous melanomas. Ann Oncol. 2014;25(1):246–50.PubMedCrossRef

13.

Prens SP, van der Ploeg AP, van Akkooi AC, van Montfort CA, van Geel AN, de Wilt JH, et al. Outcome after therapeutic lymph node dissection in patients with unknown primary melanoma site. Ann Surg Oncol. 2011;18(13):3586–92.PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef

14.

Weide B, Faller C, Elsasser M, Buttner P, Pflugfelder A, Leiter U, et al. Melanoma patients with unknown primary site or nodal recurrence after initial diagnosis have a favourable survival compared to those with synchronous lymph node metastasis and primary tumour. PLoS One. 2013;8(6):e66953.PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef

15.

Sondak VK, Tyuthill R, Moon J, Thompson JA, Lao CD, et al. Should unknown primary melanomas be excluded from adjuvant therapy trials? Insights from SWOG S0008. ASCO Meeting Abstracts. 2010;28:8517.

Title: Another Brick in the Wall: Toward a Better Understanding of Melanoma of Unknown Primary
Authors: David W. Ollila, MD
Michael O. Meyers, MD
Publication date: 01-12-2014
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology / Issue 13/2014
Print ISSN: 1068-9265
Electronic ISSN: 1534-4681
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-014-4027-5

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Another Brick in the Wall: Toward a Better Understanding of Melanoma of Unknown Primary

Excerpt

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Excerpt

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 13/2014

A Promise to Our Patients with Metastatic Bone Disease

A Novel Method for Intraoperative Sentinel Lymph Node Detection in Prostate Cancer Patients Using Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles and a Handheld Magnetometer: The Initial Clinical Experience

Quality of Life After Robotic Thyroidectomy by a Gasless Unilateral Axillary Approach

Favorable Outcome After Repeat Resection for Colorectal Liver Metastases

High Volumetric Breast Density Predicts Risk for Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal, but not Premenopausal, Korean Women

Predictive and Prognostic Survival Factors in Peritoneal Carcinomatosis from Appendiceal Cancer After Cytoreductive Surgery with Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy