WCCS/EADO 2016 | Treating early stage melanoma

Jean-Jacques Grob, MD of Aix Marseille University and APHM Hospital CHU Timone, Marseille, France discusses the idea of focussing on treating melanoma patients during earlier stages of disease at the 2016 World Congress on Cancers of the Skin (WCCS) and the Congress of the European Association of Dermato-Oncology (EADO) in Vienna, Austria. Prof. Grob explains that while there are treatments specifically to treat advanced melanoma there is less focus on treating earlier stages of melanoma. He suggests treating patients with disease stages as early as primary melanoma or nodule disease would be advantageous. There is currently debate around this concept regarding the safety of drugs and identifying a regiment that will be efficacious for an earlier stage. Designing and conducting trials on early stage melanoma is costly because follow up lasts for many years. However, Prof. Grob believes it is necessary to move towards treating earlier disease in order to have a better impact on melanoma outcomes overall.