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Medical Options for the Adjuvant Treatment and Management of Pediatric Melanoma

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A Correction to this article was published on 25 May 2019

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Abstract

Although melanoma is a rare diagnosis in the pediatric population, advances in the management of adults with melanoma offer the prospect of promising therapeutic options for children. At this time, medical management is not considered curative but may reduce the risk of recurrence or prolong survival. Surgical management remains the mainstay of treatment. Medical therapy of pediatric melanoma is not thought to have a role for in situ, early-stage, or localized disease, but adjuvant therapy may have a role in improving the prognosis of patients with positive sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), spread beyond the regional lymph node basin, metastatic disease, or recurrent disease. Medical treatment options include immunotherapies, particularly checkpoint inhibitors, and targeted therapies, which have provided improved toxicity profiles compared with traditional chemotherapy regimens in the setting of advanced disease. There is a growing body of pediatric-specific data relevant to the use of adjuvant therapies for advanced melanoma in children.

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Change history

  • 25 May 2019

    Study NCT01519323 (A study of vemurafenib in pediatric patients with stage IIIC or stage IV melanoma harbouring BRAFV600 mutations) was included in a table listing ongoing clinical trials of adjuvant therapies for pediatric melanoma (Table 1) in error. The study was in fact closed early due to low enrollment as correctly noted in section 4 of the article.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Haya S. Raef

  2. School of Medicine, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

    Alison M. Friedmann & Elena B. Hawryluk

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Alison M. Friedmann

  4. Department of Dermatology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 50 Staniford St., 2nd Floor, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Elena B. Hawryluk

  5. Dermatology Program, Division of Immunology, Department of Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Elena B. Hawryluk

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  1. Haya S. Raef
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Correspondence to Elena B. Hawryluk.

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Funding

This work was funded by the Dermatology Foundation and the Society for Pediatric Dermatology (EBH).

Conflicts of Interest

Elena B. Hawryluk’s spouse has received stock from Foundation Medicine Inc. and salary and stock from Gritstone Oncology. Elena B. Hawryluk has received authorship honorarium from UpToDate, Inc. Haya S. Raef and Alison M. Friedmann, MD, MSc, have no conflicts of interest that might be relevant to the contents of this manuscript.

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Raef, H.S., Friedmann, A.M. & Hawryluk, E.B. Medical Options for the Adjuvant Treatment and Management of Pediatric Melanoma. Pediatr Drugs 21, 71–79 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40272-019-00326-w

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