Delayed Recurrence Beyond 10 Years Seen in Some Patients With Melanoma

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Delayed recurrence is observed among some patients with melanoma, with female sex and younger age associated with favorable survival, according to a study published online Oct. 28 in Cancer Medicine.Kaspar Itin, from the University Hospital of Basel in Switzerland, and colleagues conducted a retrospective single-center cohort study of 30 patients (18 women and 12 men) with cutaneous melanoma developing metastatic recurrence at least five years postdiagnosis to identify clinicopathologic factors associated with survival.The researchers found that mean overall survival was 168.7 months, mean progression-free survival was 130.4 months, and mean postrecurrence survival was 43.7 months. Overall, eight patients (27 percent) died. Recurrences were locoregional and distant in eight and 21 patients (26.7 and 70.0 percent, respectively); data were lacking for one patient. Better univariate overall survival and multivariate progression-free survival were predicted by female sex (hazard ratios, 0.055 and 0.364, respectively). Shorter multivariate progression-free survival was predicted by increasing age (hazard ratio, 1.072). An independent impact on progression-free survival was seen for histologic regression and BRAF status (hazard ratios, 3.557 and 0.413, respectively). Kaplan-Meier analyses revealed longer overall and progression-free survival in women and longer progression-free survival was seen in those younger than 50 years."Although conventional guidelines often consider a 10-year disease-free period indicative of cure, our findings suggest that a subset of patients remains at risk of late recurrence beyond this threshold," the authors write.Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Delayed Recurrence Beyond 10 Years Seen in Some Patients With Melanoma

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