Postoperative Radiotherapy for Cutaneous Melanoma in Patients at High Risk of Local-Regional Recurrence after Surgery Alone

Abstract

We evaluated outcomes in 131 patients with cutaneous melanoma (median follow-up, 3.6 years) considered at high risk of recurrence after surgery alone treated with surgery and postoperative radiotherapy. Eligible patients had one or more of the following: recurrence after surgery, positive lymph nodes, extracapsular extension, incomplete regional node dissection, microscopically positive margins, gross residual disease, or in-transit metastases. 102 patients received hypofractionated radiotherapy and 29 had conventional fractionation. 10-year outcomes were: in-field local-regional control, 87%; local regional control, 72%; distant metastasis-free survival, 48%; cause-specific survival, 44%; and overall survival, 31%. Three patients experienced acute toxicities while 6 experienced late toxicities.

Keywords:

• Radiation oncology
• cancer outcomes
• skin cancer
• cancer recurrence

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Data availability statement

The authors agree to share anonymized data upon reasonable request by researchers.