Tumour necrosis is a valuable histopathological prognostic parameter in melanomas of the vulva and vagina

Vulvar and vaginal melanomas (VVMs) are rare and aggressive malignancies with limited prognostic models available and there is no standard reporting protocol.

VVMs were selected from six tertiary Canadian hospitals from 2000–2021, resected from patients aged ≥18 years, with 6 months or longer follow-up data, and confirmation of melanocytic differentiation by at least two immunohistochemical markers. Cases were reviewed by pathologists to identify histological biomarkers. Survival outcomes were tested with Kaplan–Meier log-rank, univariate Cox, and multivariate Cox regression.

There were 79 VVMs with median follow-up at 26 months. Univariate analysis revealed that tumour necrosis, tumour ulceration, positive lymph nodes, and metastasis at diagnosis were significantly associated with disease-specific mortality, progression, and metastasis. Multivariate analysis identified tumour necrosis as an independent prognostic factor for disease-specific mortality (HR 4.803, 95% CI 1.954–11.803, p<0.001), progression (HR 2.676, 95% CI 1.403–5.102, p=0.003), and time-to-metastasis for non-metastatic patients at diagnosis (HR 3.761, 95%CI 1.678–8.431, p=0.001). Kaplan–Meier survival analyses demonstrated that tumour necrosis was a poor prognostic factor for disease-specific, progression-free, and metastasis-free survival (p<0.001 for all comparisons). Vaginal melanomas displayed decreased survival compared to vulvar or clitoral melanomas.

This study identifies tumour necrosis as an independent prognostic factor for VVMs. Vaginal melanomas specifically showed worse survival outcomes compared to vulvar or clitoral melanomas, consistent with previously reported findings in the literature, emphasising the importance of differentiating between these primary tumour epicentres for prognostication and treatment planning in the care of genital melanoma patients.