This clinical trial compares the effect of using risk-based stratification to guide surgical management to the usual approach in treating cutaneous melanoma, atypical Spitz/Spitzoid tumors or other atypical melanocytic tumors that have not spread to other parts of the body (localized). Melanoma is a cancer that in children is sometimes difficult to tell apart from benign (not harmful) or atypical (uncertain if harmful) skin lesions. Failure to diagnose melanoma can result in inadequate surgical removal and increase the risk of recurrence and metastatic disease (spread from where it first started to other places in the body). In addition, diagnosing a tumor a benign (not cancer) tumor as cancer may lead to unnecessary surgery and treatment. This trial reviews tumor pathology and genetic markers and classifies the tumor as not atypical, atypical but low risk for spread and/or recurrence (coming back after a period of improvement), and atypical and high risk for spread and/or recurrence. The classifications are then used to provide surgical recommendations. Tumors that are not atypical do not receive any surgical treatment. Low-risk recommendations include removing a small layer of normal skin around the tumor. High-risk recommendations include the usual adult melanoma approach of removing a larger layer of normal skin around the tumor with or without a biopsy of the sentinel lymph node (the first lymph node to which tumor cells are likely to spread from a primary tumor). Risk-based guided surgical management may help avoid unnecessary surgery while improving outcomes in younger patients with localized cutaneous melanoma, atypical Spitz/Spitzoid tumors or other atypical melanocytic tumors.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: I. To study the feasibility of central risk-based stratification of malignant and atypical cutaneous melanocytic tumors to guide primary surgical management. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To evaluate the adherence rate to protocol-assigned surgical management in children with newly diagnosed melanoma, atypical Spitz/Spitzoid tumors, and other atypical melanocytic neoplasms. II. To evaluate the surgery-related adverse events profile for patients treated with narrow re-excision without sentinel lymph node biopsy versus wide local excision +/- sentinel lymph node biopsy per standard adult cutaneous melanoma guidelines. III. To describe progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in pediatric patients with melanoma, atypical Spitz/Spitzoid tumors, and other atypical melanocytic neoplasms. EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES: I. To describe surgical reconstruction techniques for pediatric patients with atypical and malignant melanocytic tumors. II. To describe the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy and rate of completion nodal dissection vs observation following positive sentinel lymph node including number of sentinel nodes sampled, size of largest metastatic nodal deposit, location of draining lymph node basin(s), number of lymph nodes resected at completion dissection. III. To describe surgical complications of completion nodal dissection (from time of surgery to 90 days following surgery): wound dehiscence, seroma/hematoma, hemorrhage, infection, skin graft failure, necrosis of flap used for reconstruction, lymphocele, lymphedema, deep vein thrombosis. IV. To evaluate the concordance between local treating center pathologic diagnosis and central pathology review diagnosis. V. To analyze the molecular characterization of melanocytic tumors to identify molecular and immunohistochemical biomarkers correlating with known clinical prognostic factors and outcome. VI. To determine the number of Children's Oncology Group (COG) institutions that open the study within 18 months of activation. OUTLINE: Patients with not atypical pathology are assigned to the Observation Arm. Patients with atypical low-risk tumors are assigned to Treatment Arm A and patients with atypical high-risk tumors are assigned to Treatment Arm B. OBSERVATION ARM: Patients undergo observation throughout the study. TREATMENT ARM A: Patients may undergo narrow margin re-excision without sentinel lymph node biopsy. After completion of study intervention, patients are followed every 6 months for 1 year then every year for up to 5 years. TREATMENT ARM B: Patients undergo wide local excision with or without sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) per standard guidelines. Patients may also undergo blood sample collection, chest x-ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), whole-body fludeoxyglucose F-18 (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT or PET/MRI, nodal basin ultrasound, and brain MRI on study. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3-6 months for years 1 and 2, every 6 months up to year 5.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
51
Undergo blood sample collection
Undergo chest x-ray
Undergo CT or FDG PET/CT
Given FDG
Undergo MRI, PET/MRI or brain MRI
Undergo observation
Undergo whole body FDG PET/CT or PET/MRI
Undergo narrow margin re-excision
Undergo SLNB
Undergo nodal basin ultrasound
Undergo wide local excision
Feasibility success rate
Will be defined as the proportion of patients for whom risk stratification can be returned to the treating institution based on pathology and molecular data obtained through rapid central review.
Time frame: Within 8 weeks of enrollment
Adherence to surgical treatment arm assignment
Will be defined as the proportion of patients who receive the specific protocol-assigned surgical management.
Time frame: Up to 5 years
Incidence of grade 3-5 surgical adverse events
Will be defined according to the Clavien-Dindo Classification. Will be summarized descriptively by study arm. Special attention will be given to the following surgical complications: wound dehiscence, seroma/hematoma, hemorrhage, infection, skin graft failure, necrosis of flap used for reconstruction, lymphocele, lymphedema, and deep vein thrombosis.
Time frame: From the time of surgery up to 90 days postoperatively
Progression-free survival (PFS)
The 2-year PFS along with the confidence intervals will be estimated using the Kaplan-Meier survival curves for each study arm separately: observation arm, low-risk arm A, and high-risk arm B.
Time frame: From the date of enrollment to the earliest occurrence of relapse, disease progression/recurrence, secondary malignant neoplasm, or death due to any cause, assessed up to 5 years
Overall survival (OS)
The 2-year OS along with the confidence intervals will be estimated using the Kaplan-Meier survival curves for each study arm separately: observation arm, low-risk arm A, and high-risk arm B.
Time frame: From the date of enrollment to date of death due to any reason, assessed up to 5 years
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