Advanced Conjunctival Melanoma Treated with Systemic Therapy: A Case Series of Six Patients

Abstract

Conjunctival melanoma is extremely rare in Japan; only ten cases are reported annually. Owing to frequent recurrences and metastases, the prognosis is poor. We herein summarized six cases of advanced conjunctival melanoma treated with systemic therapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors and a kinase inhibitor were chosen as the initial, systemic therapy in five and one patient, respectively. Three of the five patients showed improvement with the immune checkpoint inhibitors. The median overall survival from systemic therapy and the one-year overall survival rate were 15.5 months and 50%, respectively. Although mucosal melanomas tend to respond less well to systemic therapy than cutaneous melanomas do, conjunctival melanomas may respond as well as cutaneous ones.