Initial Stage of Cutaneous Primary Melanoma Plays a Key Role in the Pattern and Timing of Disease Recurrence

Given recent developments in the treatment of metastatic melanoma, early detection of disease recurrence is crucial. The aim of this single-centre retrospective cohort study was to investigate the impact of the initial stage of primary melanoma on the pattern and timing of disease recurrence and post-recurrence survival. Patients diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma with initial stage IA–IIID, between January 1996 and December 2018 and who developed disease recurrence until May 2019 were included (n = 784). Earlier stage at diagnosis was associated with a higher proportion of locoregional and a lower proportion of distant metastasis (p = 0.01). The median time to first metastasis decreased with the more advanced stages at initial diagnosis: 3.32 years (interquartile range (IQR) 1.72–6.14 years) for stage I, 1.85 years (IQR 0.99–3.78 years) for stage II and 1.19 years (IQR 0.70–2.42 years) for stage III disease (p < 0.001). These findings add evidence that American Joint Committee on Cancer stages at initial diagnosis of melanoma play a key role in the pattern and timing of disease recurrence and may be helpful to improve surveillance strategies in the follow-up of patients with melanoma.