Surgical management of metastatic melanoma in the era of targeted systemic therapies

Novel MicroRNA Biomarkers, miR-142-5p, miR-550a, miR-1826, and miR-1201, Were Identified for Primary Melanoma

This study was aimed to identify novel miRNA biomarkers and explore the cooperative function of multi-RNAs in the progress of primary melanoma. The miRNA expression profile GSE62370 generated from 9 congenital nevi and 92 primary melanoma samples was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed miRNAs between primary melanoma and congenital nevi were compared and the target genes of them were selected. Pathway enrichment analysis and protein/protein interaction (PPI) network of miRNA target genes were performed. In addition, the differential expression of miRNAs to identify the tumor stage-dependent differences in miRNA expression was analyzed. Differentially expressed miRNAs, including 6 upregulated and 23 downregulated, were found in primary melanoma. Besides, the miRNA-associated gene regulatory network revealed 274 nodes, including miR-142-5p and miR-125b, and 307 miRNA-target pairs. miRNA-related Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, such as melanoma, was found. Target genes in the PPI module were mainly enriched in cancer-related pathways. Finally, the melanoma stage-related overexpressed miR-142-5p and the downregulated miR-550, miR-1826, miR-1201, miR-205, and miR-125b were identified. Some validated miRNAs, including miR-125a/b, let-7a/b, and miR-205, were found and illustrated the reliability of our study. Four novel miRNAs, including miR-142-5p, miR-550a, miR-1826, and miR-1201, were considered to have potential prognostic values for primary melanoma.

Clinical Characteristics of Malignant Melanoma in Southwest China: A Single-Center Series of 82 Consecutive Cases and a Meta-Analysis of 958 Reported Cases

Purpose

The present study determined the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors in patients with malignant melanoma based on a series of 82 cases from January 2009 to December 2014 in Southwest Hospital and a meta-analysis (including 12 articles) involving 958 patients in China.

Materials and methods

The database elements included basic demographic data and prognosticators which were extracted from medical records. Statistical analyses of survival, and multivariate analyses of factors associated with survival were performed using the Kaplan—Meier method, and the Cox proportional hazard model, respectively. Literatures were identified through systematic searches in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Weipu database (VIP) database for the period from inception to December 2015. The meta-analysis was conducted using R 3.1.1 meta-analysis software

Results

In this series of 82 cases, the median age of the patients was 57.50 years. Melanoma was located in the foot in 79% of patients. Sixty-one patients (74.4%) were classified as stage II-III. Thirty-two patients (39.0%) had acral malignant melanoma, and 31 patients (37.8%) had nodular malignant melanoma. The clinical characteristics of melanoma were similar to those in areas outside southwest China (from results of the meta-analysis). The median survival time was 29.50 months. The 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival rates were 84.1%, 39.0% and 10.9%, respectively. COX regression following multi-factor analysis showed that ulcer, tumor boundary and lymph node metastasis were associated with prognosis.

Conclusions

The clinical characteristics of melanoma in Chinese were different from those in Caucasians. Ulcer, tumor margins, and lymph node metastasis were significantly associated with prognosis. Immune therapy may prolong the median survival time of patients with acral melanoma, nodular melanoma, or stage I-III disease, although these differences were not statistically significant.