A paradigm shift in understanding vulvovaginal melanoma as a distinct tumor type compared with cutaneous melanoma

Authors:

Annelise M Wilhite 1, Sharon Wu 2, Joanne Xiu 2, Geoffrey T Gibney 3, Thuy Phung 4, Gino K In 5, Thomas J Herzog 6, Dineo Khabele 7, Britt K Erickson 8, Jubilee Brown 9, Rodney P Rocconi 10, Jennifer Y Pierce 11, Jennifer M Scalici 11, Nathaniel L Jones 11

Highlights

  • Vulvovaginal melanoma is a rare disease, with minimal available data on molecular and immunologic characteristics.
  • Vulvovaginal melanoma has less frequent BRAF and more frequent KIT, ATRX, and SF3B1 mutations than cutaneous melanoma.
  • High tumor mutation burden was absent in vulvovaginal melanoma tumors, compared with 50% TMB-H cutaneous melanomas.
  • Vulvovaginal melanoma patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy had a shorter OS compared to cutaneous patients.
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