WEDNESDAY, Jan. 7, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with vaginal and vulvar melanoma have poor prognoses, with a median progression-free survival of 7.5 months among those undergoing surgery, according to a study published online Dec. 31 in the European Journal of Surgical Oncology.

Thomas Dabreteau, M.D., from the Institut Gustave-Roussy in Villejuif, France, and colleagues conducted a retrospective observational cohort study involving 57 patients treated for vulvar and vaginal melanoma between January 2002 and December 2020.

The researchers found that 22 patients (38.6 percent) had surgery for vaginal or vulvar melanoma (10 and 12, respectively). Vaginal bleeding and vaginal mass were the main symptoms at diagnosis (nine [40.9 percent] and eight [36.4 percent] of the 22 patients, respectively). Median tumor size was 15 mm. In 55.5 percent of cases, free margins were obtained. Overall, six patients (27.3 percent) had mutations (c-KIT, BRAF, NRAF). Median progression-free and overall survival were 7.5 and 24 months, respectively.

"This retrospective cohort study of 22 patients treated surgically for vaginal and vulvar melanoma confirms that these malignancies are among the most aggressive in gynecologic oncology, with high recurrence rates and poor prognosis," the authors write.

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