Research
Although most hospital-based studies suggest more favorable survival with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) present in primary melanomas, it is uncertain whether TILs provide prognostic information beyond existing melanoma staging definitions. We addressed the issue in an international population-based study of patients with single and multiple primary melanomas.
Every year in the United States, approximately 87,000 patients receive the diagnosis of melanoma. Although most of these patients are cured with simple excision, those with node-positive, stage III melanoma are at increased risk for distant metastasis and death. To date, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved three adjuvant therapies for such patients, all of which are immunotherapies: high-dose interferon alfa-2b, pegylated interferon alfa, and high-dose ipilimu...