BACKGROUND

Desmoplastic melanoma (DM) is a rare subtype of spindle cell malignant melanoma characterized by frequent local recurrences and hematogenous spread, but without molecular classification. The aim of the study was to investigate in a DM series the incidence of relevant gene alterations in cancer, the programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression status and the association with clinicopathological features and melanoma progression.

METHODS

A total of 38 patients were included. Clinical follow-up and the histopathological features of all cases were retrospectively collected. PD-L1 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and

RESULTS

Tumors occurred predominantly in men (76%) and in the head and neck region (50%). Most tumors were pure DMs (66%), containing less than 10% of conventional melanoma. Overall, 48% of our cohort harbored

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that progressed DMs with deep tumoral infiltration frequently harbor

Informations de copyright

2020 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/atm-20-1846). Dr. AA reports personal fees and other from BMS, NOVARTIS, PIERRE FABRE, MSD, ROCHE, MERCK, AMGEM, and SANOFI, outside the submitted work. Dr. SP reports grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Almirall, grants and personal fees from Amgen, grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Isdin, non-financial support from Lilly, personal fees from BMS, grants from Novartis, grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Sanofi, grants from Sunpharma, grants, personal fees and non-financial support from La Roche Posay, grants and personal fees from Leo Pharma, grants from Melagenics, grants from Castle, non-financial support from Abbie, personal fees and non-financial support from Pfizer, grants and personal fees from Ojerpharma, personal fees and non-financial support from Roche, outside the submitted work. Dr. CT reports grants and personal fees from Pfizer, grants and personal fees from Novartis, personal fees from Takeda, personal fees from MSD, personal fees from BMS, personal fees from Roche, personal fees from Diaceutics, outside the submitted work. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.