This is one of three studies in JAMA Dermatology that attempt to describe some aspect of disease kinetics of selected subsets of patients with melanoma.
According to an editorial, the overall natural history kinetics of locoregional melanoma have been extensively documented, and the AJCC staging system provides evidence that for each successively higher stage, events (recurrence or death) occur earlier and more often, with few late events observed in patients with more advanced disease. It notes that in the new era of effective systemic treatment for melanoma, the kinetics of melanoma progression are no longer confined to the natural history outcome curves generated for so many years. They are now highly dependent on response to treatment received. It concludes that effective treatment of systemic disease has forever altered the kinetics of events in advanced melanoma and it is hoped this trend will continue as additional and more effective therapies become available in the years ahead.