The Impact of Surveillance Imaging Frequency on the Detection of Distant Disease for Patients with Resected Stage III Melanoma

Abstract

Background It is not known whether there is a survival benefit associated with more frequent surveillance imaging in patients with resected American Joint Committee on Cancer stage III melanoma.

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate distant disease-free survival (DDFS), melanoma-specific survival (MSS), post distant recurrence MSS (dMSS), and overall survival for patients with resected stage III melanoma undergoing regular computed tomography (CT) or positron emission tomography (PET)/CT surveillance imaging at different intervals.

Patients and Methods A closely followed longitudinal cohort of patients with resected stage IIIA–D disease treated at a tertiary referral center underwent 3- to 4-monthly, 6-monthly, or 12-monthly surveillance imaging between 2000 and 2017. Survival outcomes were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method, and log-rank tests assessed the significance of survival differences between imaging frequency groups.

Results Of 473 patients (IIIA, 19%; IIIB, 31%; IIIC, 49%; IIID, 1%) 30% underwent 3- to 4-monthly imaging, 10% underwent 6-monthly imaging, and 60% underwent 12-monthly imaging. After a median follow-up of 6.2 years, distant recurrence was recorded in 252 patients (53%), with 40% detected by surveillance CT or PET/CT, 43% detected clinically, and 17% with another imaging modality. Median DDFS was 5.1 years (95% confidence interval 3.9–6.6). Among 139 IIIC patients who developed distant disease, the median dMSS was 4.4 months shorter in those who underwent 3- to 4-monthly imaging than those who underwent 12-monthly imaging.

Conclusion Selecting patients at higher risk of distant recurrence for more frequent surveillance imaging yields a higher proportion of imaging-detected distant recurrences but is not associated with improved survival. A randomized comparison of low versus high frequency imaging is needed.