Adjuvant therapy for resected high-risk melanoma.

Abstract

Melanoma is an aggressive cancer that arises from melanocytes that can both locally invade surrounding tissues as well as metastasize systemically. If detected early, melanoma can be curable with surgical resection. However, despite complete removal, high-risk resected melanomas have a significant rate of both local and distant recurrence. Curative treatment options are typically limited for patients who develop distant recurrence after resections of their primary melanoma. Therefore, adjuvant therapy is typically given after complete resection of high-risk melanomas to try and reduce the risk of recurrent disease. Adjuvant therapy for high-risk resected melanoma has changed considerably over the past couple of years due to the availability of new melanoma therapies that are active in the metastatic setting. Here, we review the new treatment options and ongoing clinical research for adjuvant therapy.