Radiation After Surgery Lowers Chances of Melanoma Recurrence

But study did not find effect on overall survival

By Peter West
HealthDay Reporter

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MONDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Patients whose melanoma has spread to one or more lymph nodes face a decreased risk of the deadly skin cancer returning if they have radiation treatment following the removal of the nodes, a new Australian study shows.

In a paper to be presented Monday at the American Society for Radiation Oncology annual meeting in Chicago, lead researcher Dr. Bryan Burmeister, a radiation oncologist at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, reported the hopeful findings from the five-year study.

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"Results of this trial now confirm the place of radiation therapy in the management of patients who have high-risk features following surgery for melanoma involving the lymph nodes," Burmeister said in a news release. "In some institutions, radiation treatment is routine protocol, while in others, the protocol has been either for patients to just be observed or receive some type of adjuvant chemotherapy or immunotherapy. I encourage patients with melanoma to talk to their doctors about whether radiation should be added to their treatment plan."

External beam radiation involves the use of a beam (or beams) of radiation directed through the skin to the cancer and the tissue in its immediate vicinity. This targeted radiation destroys the tumor while helping to mop up nearby cancer cells that might remain after surgery. The therapy is usually painless and performed on an outpatient basis.

Burmeister's study followed 217 patients with melanoma, a deadly skin cancer, between 2002 and 2007. All had at least one lymph node removed after doctors determined that the cancer had spread into the nodes. The surgery, called a lymphadenectomy, is standard treatment for metastasized melanoma.

About half the patients underwent postoperative radiation treatment, while the other half followed-up with their physicians to see if their cancer had returned. By the end of the study, 19 percent of the radiation patients had experienced a local nodal relapse of their melanoma, compared with 31 percent of patients who did not undergo postoperative radiation treatment. Overall survival was not affected, however.

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