Comprehensive Summary
This study focused on developing a predictive model for genitourinary melanoma survival, taking into account factors like severity, surgical intervention, chemotherapy, and demographics. Data was collected regarding 1575 patients with vaginal (VaM) and vulvar melanomas (VuM), and their 5-year survival rates were recorded. The researchers developed five algorithms to predict 5-year survival with statistical tests for precision, and model discrimination was evaluated using the AUC-ROC curve. To distinguish cancer-specific survival, Kaplan-Meier statistical analysis was performed. 372 of the patients had vaginal melanomas, while 1203 had vulvar melanomas. It was found that the patients with VuM had a significantly higher 5-year survival rate of 45.4% than those with VaM, with a 5-year survival rate of 15.2%. From the data collected, the researchers were able to design a web-based model to predict cancer-specific survival rate with various treatment methods when users enter their information.
Outcomes and Implications
This web-based tool could provide useful statistics for considering treatments to patients with VaM and VuM. Although the model is only able to offer statistics and can not accurately give case-specific recommendations, it could reassure skeptical patients, and be an affordable method of receiving confirmation or negation to pursue a particular treatment method. The use of the tool in place of standard medical analysis should not be recommended, as it operates based on statistics, but it presents an affordable alternative to seeking out second opinions from other physicians.