Research notes largest yearly decline in melanoma deaths.

Abstract

Major advances in treating melanoma have led to a significant decline in mortality for the disease according to research published in the American Journal of Public Health in March.1 Metastatic melanoma death rates had increased by 7.5% between 1986 and 2013 among white Americans, who account for nearly all cases of the disease. However, the rate dropped by 17.9% from 2013 to 2016 according to researchers from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, its Perlmutter Cancer Center, and Harvard University. In 2014, mortality rates started to sharply decline in particular among men older than 50 years. The decline surpasses comparable reductions in 3 other common forms of cancer—prostate, breast, and lung—and is unprecedented in the cancer medicine field. The authors note that it occurred in tandem with the introduction of 10 new treatments for the disease, which include immune checkpoint inhibitors and treatments that target the BRAF gene, which is mutated in slightly less than half of patients with melanoma. The therapies have transformed the treatment of metastatic melanoma and dramatically reduced deaths, says cosenior study author David Polsky, MD, PhD, professor of dermatologic oncology at NYU Langone Health. The study is the first to highlight how these new drugs are improving American survival rates for the disease, he notes. Dr. Polsky and his colleagues analyzed new melanoma cases and deaths in 9 US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry areas that recorded data between 1986 and 2016. The dramatic decline in mortality cannot be explained merely by improved early-detection rates, which have been occurring for some time, although they are still important in enabling less toxic treatments, he says. The authors add that future research should focus on developing even more effective treatments, identifying biomarkers to select those patients most likely to benefit from various therapies, and continuing to emphasize public health approaches in prevention and early detection to reduce advanced disease incidence.