1943P Updated pan-tumor guidelines for neoadjuvant scoring of pathologic response: A joint SITC and INMC effort
Background Practice-changing clinical trials have recently been reported for multiple tumor types, bringing neoadjuvant therapy (NAT), particularly immunotherapy, to the forefront for patients with surgically resectable disease. Many of these studies used legacy systems to assess pathologic response for patients receiving chemotherapy or scoring systems designed a priori. The goal of this effort is to update, harmonize, and when possible, standardize the emerging system(s) for pathologic response assessment. Methods We developed revised guidelines for assessing pathologic response to NAT (immunotherapy, targeted therapy, chemotherapy, and combinations), based on correlating histologic features with patient outcomes. Members of the International Neoadjuvant Melanoma Consortium [...]
1088P Molecular profiling and matched targeted therapy for patients with advanced melanoma: Results from part I of the MatchMEL study
Background While the molecular landscape of melanoma (Mel) has been defined, the clinicopathological associations of pts with BRAF/NRAS wild-type (WT) Mel and immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) treatment outcomes are less well understood. The MatchMEL study investigated the mutational profile of WT Mel and examined whether targeted treatments could be matched to specific molecular alterations with clinical efficacy. Methods In Part 1, consecutive pts with newly diagnosed advanced Mel presenting to two centres in Australia were enrolled. WT pts underwent FoundationOneCDx® (CDx) sequencing. Clinicopathologic features and ICI outcomes were examined. A molecular tumor board analysed CDx results to match targeted therapy [...]
Comparison of clinicopathological features and treatment outcomes for cutaneous melanomas of the head and neck and melanomas arising at other sites: Implications for systemic therapy.
Abstract Background: Melanoma is increasingly recognized as a heterogeneous disease, with conflicting evidence regarding whether cutaneous head and neck melanoma (CHNM) represents a distinct entity. Objective: Comparison of clinicopathological features and treatment outcomes of CHNM and cutaneous melanomas of other sites (CMOS). Methods: Patients with CHNM and CMOS diagnosed between 2000 and 2018 were included. Locoregional control, distant metastasis-free survival, melanoma-specific survival (MSS), and overall survival (OS) were described using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox regression analyses were performed to examine associations between prognostic factors and outcomes. Additional analyses of survival from time of stage IV disease diagnosis were undertaken, stratified by receipt [...]
What is behind the declining incidence of melanoma in younger Australians?
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Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals melanoma cell state-dependent heterogeneity of response to MAPK inhibitors.
Abstract Background: Melanoma is a heterogeneous cancer influenced by the plasticity of melanoma cells and their dynamic adaptations to microenvironmental cues. Melanoma cells transition between well-defined transcriptional cell states that impact treatment response and resistance. Methods: In this study, we applied single-cell RNA sequencing to interrogate the molecular features of immunotherapy-naive and immunotherapy-resistant melanoma tumours in response to ex vivo BRAF/MEK inhibitor treatment. Findings: We confirm the presence of four distinct melanoma cell states - melanocytic, transitory, neural-crest like and undifferentiated, and identify enrichment of neural crest-like and undifferentiated melanoma cells in immunotherapy-resistant tumours. Furthermore, we introduce an integrated computational approach to [...]
The Effect of Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy on Surgical Outcomes After Lymph Node Dissections for Stage III Melanoma; An Australian Cohort
Abstract Background: Neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST) for patients with stage III melanoma achieves high major pathologic response rates and high recurrence-free survival rates. This study aimed to determine how NAST with targeted therapies (TTs) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) influences surgical outcomes after lymph node dissection in terms of complications, morbidity, and textbook outcomes. Methods: Patients who underwent a lymph node dissection after either NAST in a clinical trial or upfront surgery for stage III melanoma between 2014 and 2022 were identified from an institutional research database. Results: The study included 89 NAST-treated patients and 79 upfront surgery-treated patients. The rate of [...]
Weakly supervised deep learning image analysis can differentiate melanoma from naevi on haematoxylin and eosin-stained histopathology slides
Abstract Background: The broad histomorphological spectrum of melanocytic pathologies requires large data sets to develop accurate and generalisable deep learning (DL)-based diagnostic pathology classifiers. Weakly supervised DL promotes utilisation of larger training data sets compared to fully supervised (patch annotation) approaches. Objectives: To evaluate weakly supervised DL image classifiers for discriminating melanomas from naevi on haematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained pathology slides. Methods: A representative H&E slide for 260 naevi and 260 melanomas from mucocutaneous sites at one tertiary institution was digitized. Clinicopathological features were recorded for each case including thickness and histological subtype. Whole-slide or whole-tissue section labels were applied. The ground [...]
Circulating tumour DNA dynamics predict recurrence in stage III melanoma patients receiving neoadjuvant immunotherapy.
Abstract Background: Neoadjuvant therapy improves recurrence-free survival (RFS) in resectable stage III cutaneous melanoma. However, accurately predicting individual recurrence risk remains a significant challenge. We investigated circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) as a biomarker for recurrence in measurable stage IIIB/C melanoma patients undergoing neoadjuvant immunotherapy. Methods: Plasma samples were collected pre-neoadjuvant treatment, pre-surgery and/or six weeks post-surgery from 40 patients enrolled in the OpACIN-neo and PRADO clinical trials. Patients received two cycles of ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4) and nivolumab (anti-PD-1) before surgery. Cell free DNA (cfDNA) underwent unbiased pre-amplification followed by tumour-informed mutation detection using droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) with the Bio-Rad [...]
Synchronous collision metastasis of melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma in a parotid lymph node: a very rare occurrence and literature review
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Impact of an Online Risk Calculator for Sentinel Node Positivity on Management of Patients with T1 and T2 Melanomas
Abstract Background: Predicting which patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) T1-T2 melanomas will have a positive sentinel lymph node (SLN) is challenging. Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA) developed an internationally validated SLN metastatic risk calculator. This study evaluated the nomogram's impact on T1-T2 melanoma patient management at MIA. Methods: SLN biopsy (SLNB) rates were compared for the pre- and post-nomogram periods of 1 July 2018-30 June 2019 and 1 August 2020-31 July 2021, respectively. Results: Overall, 850 patients were identified (pre-nomogram, 383; post-nomogram, 467). SLNB was performed in 29.0% of patients in the pre-nomogram group and 34.5% in the post-nomogram group [...]