Background:
Melanoma survivors have a high risk of developing second primary neoplasms, both cutaneous melanoma (SPCM) and non-cutaneous melanoma (SPNCM), but little is known about the survival impact of the diagnosis of SPCM and SPNCM.

Objective:
To compare overall survival between melanoma survivors with first primary melanoma and SPCM/SPNCM by stage at diagnosis of second primary neoplasms.

Methods:
Among cutaneous (CM) and non-cutaneous melanoma (NCM) survivors of all ages, SPCM (N=7314) or SPNCM (N=157) between 2004 and 2020 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 17 Research Plus database. Flexible parametric modelling was conducted to evaluate the time-varying effect of SPCM and SPNCM, compared to single melanoma, on survival.

Results:
Over the study period, 3.4% of patients had a SPCM (12.9% regional/distantstage) and 0.1% had a SPNCM (36.3% regional/distant or unknown-stage). Compared with single CM, patients with SPCM (regional/distant-stage hazard ratio [HR]=1.71, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.55–1.89; localized-stage HR=1.09, CI=1.01–1.18) and regional/distant-stage SPNCM (Year 1: HR=1.56, CI=0.81–3.03) had worse overall survival. Among NCM survivors, regional/distant-stage SPCM (HR=2.67, CI=1.73–4.13) had a more pronounced impact on decreased overall survival than localizedstage SPCM (HR=1.19, CI=0.71–1.99) when compared with single NCM, with similar trends seen for regional/distant-stage SPNCM (Year 2: HR = 1.39, CI = 0.76–2.54) relative to localized-stage SPNCM (Year 2: HR = 0.96, CI = 0.61–1.50).

Conclusions:
The reduction in survival among melanoma survivors with SPCM and SPNCM suggests the potential need for prevention and early detection of SPCM and SPNCM.

Source:

Xie J, Kiuru M, Pollock BH, Keegan THM. Survival impact of second primary cutaneous and non-cutaneous melanoma in
melanoma survivors. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2025;00:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/jdv.70043 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jdv.70043