Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Jun 24, 2025; 16(6): 105813
Published online Jun 24, 2025. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i6.105813
Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors in patients with malignant melanoma: A Chinese prospective cohort study
Long Tang, Yi-Yao Wang, Hai-Ke Lei, Chun-Mei Wang, Yan Teng, Qian-Jie Xu, Qing-Ming Jiang, Biao Chen, Xiang-Hua Zeng, Bian-Qin Guo, En-Wen Wang
Long Tang, Chun-Mei Wang, Yan Teng, Xiang-Hua Zeng, Bian-Qin Guo, En-Wen Wang, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Translational Research for Cancer Metastasis and Individualized Treatment, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, Chongqing 400030, China
Yi-Yao Wang, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Hai-Ke Lei, Qian-Jie Xu, Chongqing Cancer Multi-omics Big Data Application Engineering Research Center, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, Chongqing 400030, China
Qing-Ming Jiang, Department of Pathology, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, Chongqing 400030, China
Biao Chen, Department of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, Chongqing 400030, China
Co-corresponding authors: Bian-Qin Guo and En-Wen Wang.
Author contributions: Wang EW, Tang L and Lei HK conceived the idea; Tang L wrote the manuscript; Wang EW and Guo BQ supervised the study; Tang L, Wang YY, Wang CM, Teng Y, Xu QJ, Jiang QM, Chen B, Zeng XH and Lei HK collected and analyzed data; Wang EW, Tang L and Guo BQ participated in the discussion. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This study was jointly supervised by two senior investigators (Guo BQ and Wang EW), whose complementary expertise was indispensable to the project's success. Wang EW led the case collection, ethical review and statistical design, and her clinical experience provided a solid data base for this study. Guo BQ focused on the molecular mechanism of tumor, provided important data to be collected, participated in the experimental design, reviewed the results, and ensured the scientific rigor of the research conclusions. In addition, the interdisciplinary cooperation between the two professors promoted the depth and breadth of the research. Based on internationally accepted standards for corresponding authors (major contributions to research design, manuscript completion, and academic responsibility), both scholars participated in the conception, revision, and finalization of papers, and assume responsibility for funding and academic supervision. This division of labor was in line with the reality of multi-team collaborative research and demonstrated the academic value of collaborative research.
Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing, No. CSTB2023NSCQ-MSX0829.
Institutional review board statement: Members of the Ethics Committee carefully reviewed the submitted research protocol, researchers' qualifications and Application for exemption from informed consent through rapid review, and believed that the submitted materials basically met the ethical requirements.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent is documented in writing and signed by the patient or, if he or she does not have the capacity to sign, by a legal representative.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no potential conflict of interests for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: sharing statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: En-Wen Wang, PhD, Professor, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Translational Research for Cancer Metastasis and Individualized Treatment, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, No. 181 Han Yu Road, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400030, China. enwang313@cqu.edu.cn
Received: February 8, 2025
Revised: March 24, 2025
Accepted: May 10, 2025
Published online: June 24, 2025
Processing time: 132 Days and 19.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Melanoma is a highly malignant tumor that has an extremely poor prognosis. It is the primary cause of death among cutaneous malignancies, accounting for 75% of such fatalities; approximately 325000 new cases and 57000 deaths were reported worldwide in 2020. The main modalities for melanoma treatment include surgery, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, high-dose interferon, antitumor angiogenesis, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Due to China's special national conditions, the main pathological types and therapeutic effects are greatly different from those in Europe and the United States, so more studies are needed to determine the curative effects of such treatments in the Chinese population.

AIM

To explore their clinical characteristics, prognostic influencing factors and real-world data to provide a reference basis for further diagnosis and treatment.

METHODS

We collected pathological data from patients diagnosed with malignant melanoma in our hospital in recent years. Univariate analysis was conducted using the log-rank test, while multivariate analysis was performed with the Cox proportional hazard regression model. The survival rate was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

The male-to-female patient ratio was 1.04: 1. Among the clinical classifications, melanoma of the limb accounted for 47.56% of cases, followed by melanoma of the skin (18.18%) and mucosal melanoma (18.05%). The 5-year survival rates for stage I-II, stage III, and stage IV patients were 54.65%, 37.88%, and 28.58%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that age, tumor stage, treatment mode, platelet count at the first visit, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level were significantly related to patient survival. Patients with high LDH and high platelet counts exhibited significantly lower survival rates at 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that tumor stage, chemotherapy, interferon therapy, and LDH level were independent risk factors affecting patient survival and prognosis. Compared to the mortality rates of patients who did not receive chemotherapy or interferon therapy, those of patients who received chemotherapy and interferon therapy were 30.0% and 44.5% lower, respectively. Additionally, patients with elevated LDH levels were 2.27 times more likely to die than patients with normal LDH levels.

CONCLUSION

Melanoma is highly malignant, and its prognosis is influenced by numerous factors, resulting in an overall poor prognosis. This study identified several factors that impact patient prognosis, providing a foundation for individualized comprehensive treatment.

Keywords: Malignant melanoma; Clinical features; Prognosis; Survival curves; Single-center

Core Tip: Melanoma is a highly malignant tumor that arises from melanocytes and has an extremely poor prognosis. This article collected and analyzed the clinical data of patients, several statistical methods were used to identify the factors that influence patient prognosis.