ABSTRACT
Metastatic malignant melanoma is an incurable malignancy with extremely poor prognosis. Patients bearing this diagnosis face a median survival time of approximately 9 months with a probability of surviving 5 years after initial presentation at less than 5%. This is contrasted by the curative nature of surgical resection of early melanoma detected in the skin. To date, no systemic therapy has consistently and predictably impacted the overall survival of patients with metastatic melanoma. However, in recent years, a resurgence of innovative diagnostic and therapeutic developments have broadened our understanding of the natural history of melanoma and identified rational therapeutic targets/strategies that seem poised to significantly change the clinical outcomes in these patients. Herein we review the state-of-the-art in metastatic melanoma diagnostics and therapeutics with particular emphasis on multi-disciplinary clinical management.
Subject(s)
Melanoma/secondary , Melanoma/therapy , Skin Neoplasms/pathology , Skin Neoplasms/therapy , Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use , Chemotherapy, Adjuvant , Diagnosis, Differential , Evidence-Based Medicine , Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 , Humans , Immunotherapy , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Melanoma/diagnosis , Melanoma/drug therapy , Melanoma/mortality , Melanoma/radiotherapy , Melanoma/surgery , Positron-Emission Tomography , Prognosis , Radiotherapy, Adjuvant , Skin Neoplasms/diagnosis , Skin Neoplasms/drug therapy , Skin Neoplasms/mortality , Skin Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Skin Neoplasms/surgery , Survival Analysis , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Hot flashes represent a significant problem in men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Via a prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, men with hot flashes, on a stable androgen deprivation therapy program for prostate cancer, received a placebo or gabapentin at target doses of 300, 600, or 900 mg/day. Hot flash frequencies and severities were recorded daily during a baseline week and for 4 weeks while the patients took the study medication. RESULTS: In the 214 eligible patients who began the study drug on this trial, comparing the fourth treatment week to the baseline week, mean hot flash scores decreased in the placebo group by 4.1 units and in the three increasing dose gabapentin groups by, 3.2, 4.6, and 7.0 units. Comparing the three combined gabapentin arms to the placebo arm did not result in significant hot flash differences. Wilcoxon rank-sum P values for change in hot flash scores and frequencies after 4 weeks of treatment were 0.10 and 0.02, comparing the highest dose gabapentin arm to the placebo arm, respectively. The gabapentin was well tolerated in this trial. CONCLUSION: These results support that gabapentin decreases hot flashes, to a moderate degree, in men with androgen ablation-related vasomotor dysfunction.
