Management of melanomas of the female genital tract.

Purpose Of Review: The significant increase in cutaneous melanomas over the past 30 years has led to studies resulting in advances in their diagnosis, staging, surgical treatment, and adjuvant therapies. Similar approaches have been investigated in patients with far rarer malignant melanomas of the female genital tract. This review will summarize the current state of knowledge on the incidence, causes, presenting symptoms, prognostic factors, therapeutic approaches, and outcomes, site-by-site, for primary melanomas of the vulva, vagina, urethra, ovary, and the uterine cervix.

Analysis of phase II studies on targeted agents and subsequent phase III trials: what are the predictors for success?

Purpose: To identify the characteristics of phase II studies that predict for subsequent "positive" phase III trials (those that reached the proposed primary end points of study or those wherein the study drug was superior to the standard regimen investigating targeted agents in advanced tumors.

Methods: We identified all phase III clinical trials of targeted therapies against advanced cancers published from 1985 to 2005. Characteristics of the preceding phase II studies were reviewed to identify predictive factors for success of the subsequent phase III trial.

Vulvar melanoma: a multivariable analysis of 644 patients.

Objectives: To determine the prognostic factors associated with the survival of vulvar melanoma patients.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database from 1973 to 2003. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox regression models were used for analysis.