Impact of systemic therapies in metastatic melanoma of unknown primary: A study from MELBASE, a French multicentric prospective cohort

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Background: Clinical outcomes of advanced melanoma of unknown primary (MUP) in the era of novel therapies have been scarcely studied.Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of systemic treatments in patients with advanced MUP compared to patients with stage-matched melanoma of known cutaneous primary (cMKP).Methods: Based on the nationwide MelBase prospective database, this study included advanced melanoma patients treated from March 2013 to June 2021 with first-line immunotherapies, targeted therapies, or chemotherapy. Co-primary outcomes were progression-free survival and overall survival. Secondary outcome was treatment-related toxicities. Multivariate and propensity score analyses were performed.Results: Of 1882 patients, 265 (14.1%) had advanced MUP. Patients with advanced MUP displayed more often unfavorable initial prognostic factors than those with cMKP. Progression-free and overall survival did not differ significantly between the groups (P = .73 and P = .93, respectively), as well as treatment-related toxicity rate and severity, regardless of treatment type.Limitations: No record of standard diagnostic criteria of MUP used in the participating centers.Conclusions: Although patients with MUP had less favorable baseline prognostic factors, they benefited from the novel therapies as much as those with cMKP. They should be managed according to similar strategies.

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