Evolving Treatment Approaches to Mucosal Melanoma

Purpose of Review This review mainly focuses on the unique features and the development of available therapeutic options for mucosal melanoma in different treatment settings, i.e., neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and palliative. Recent Findings Mucosal melanoma is distinct from cutaneous melanoma in epidemiology, clinical features, and molecular landscape, characterized by more aggressive biological behavior, lower mutational burden, more chromosomal structure variants, unique driver mutation profile, and distinct tumor microenvironment. Systemic therapy is generally less effective to mucosal melanoma than its cutaneous counterpart. Therapeutic landscape for mucosal melanoma has evolved substantially in recent years: with new targeted therapy options as well as combination therapies built on the backbone of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies available (esp. anti-angiogenic agent and PD-1/PD-L1 combination), which, based on early phase trial data, seem to be promising. Summary Mucosal melanoma is unique and distinct from cutaneous subtype. Unraveling the unique features of mucosal melanoma is a key to improve clinical outcomes.

Automated summary

Mucosal melanoma differs from cutaneous melanoma in terms of epidemiology, clinical features, and molecular landscape, and has poorer response to systemic therapy. However, recent advancements in targeted therapy options and combination treatments have provided promising prospects for improving clinical outcomes.