REVIEW  PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF SKIN CANCER PATIENTS 

Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2017 June;152(3):241-61

DOI: 10.23736/S0392-0488.17.05633-4

Copyright © 2017 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Treatment of metastatic melanoma: a multidisciplinary approach

Paolo FAVA ¹, Chiara ASTRUA ¹, Martina SANLORENZO ^{1, 2}, Simone RIBERO ¹, Matteo BRIZIO ¹, Andrea R., FILIPPI ^{3, 4}, Elena MARRA ¹, Franco PICCIOTTO ⁵, Dario SANGIOLO ⁶, Fabrizio, CARNEVALE‑SCHIANCA ⁶, Massimo AGLIETTA ^{3, 6}, Sergio SANDRUCCI ⁷, Umberto RICARDI ³, Virginia CALIENDO ⁵, Pietro QUAGLINO ¹, Maria T. FIERRO ¹ ✉

¹ Clinic of Dermatology, Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Turin, Turin, Italy; ² Department of Dermatology, Mt. Zion Cancer Research Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; ³ Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy; ⁴ Radiation Oncology Unit, San Luigi Gonzaga University Hospital, Orbassano, Turin, Italy; ⁵ Section of Surgical Dermatology, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza, Turin, Italy; ⁶ Medical Oncology Unit, Candiolo Cancer Institute FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Turin, Italy; ⁷ Sarcoma Unit, Department of Surgery, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

The prognosis of stage IV metastatic melanoma is poor. An overall 1-year survival of 25.5% and a median survival of 6.2 months were reported without any significant improvement during the last 30 years before the introduction of new drugs (immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies) which completely modified the therapeutic approach and induced an overwhelming improvement on the survival rates of these patients. This review will analyze the therapeutic tools available for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma, including adjuvant interferon and locoregional therapies (surgery, radiotherapy and electrochemotherapy) and will mainly focus on the presentation of results obtained by the new treatments (checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies)

KEY WORDS: Melanoma - Neoplasm metastasis - Molecular targeted therapy - Electrochemotherapy - Radiotherapy