RECRUITING Phase 2 ClinicalTrials.gov

A Study on How to Safely Guide Surgery for Melanoma and Similar Skin Tumors in Children Using Pathology and Genetic Information

Sponsor: Children's Oncology Group • ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT07621614

Registry updated: 2026-09-24

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Description

This phase II trial compares the effect of using risk-based stratification to guide surgical management to the usual approach in treating cutaneous melanoma, atypical Spitz/Spitzoid tumors or other atypical melanocytic tumors that have not spread to other parts of the body (localized). Melanoma is a cancer that in children is sometimes difficult to tell apart from benign (not harmful) or atypical (uncertain if harmful) skin lesions. Failure to diagnose melanoma can result in inadequate surgical removal and increase the risk of recurrence and metastatic disease (spread from where it first started to other places in the body). In addition, diagnosing a tumor a benign (not cancer) tumor as cancer may lead to unnecessary surgery and treatment. This trial reviews tumor pathology and genetic markers and classifies the tumor as not atypical, atypical but low risk for spread and/or recurrence (coming back after a period of improvement), and atypical and high risk for spread and/or recurrence. The classifications are then used to provide surgical recommendations. Tumors that are not atypical do not receive any surgical treatment. Low-risk recommendations include removing a small layer of normal skin around the tumor. High-risk recommendations include the usual adult melanoma approach of removing a larger layer of normal skin around the tumor with or without a biopsy of the sentinel lymph node (the first lymph node to which tumor cells are likely to spread from a primary tumor). Risk-based guided surgical management may help avoid unnecessary surgery while improving outcomes in younger patients with localized cutaneous melanoma, atypical Spitz/Spitzoid tumors or other atypical melanocytic tumors.

Interventions

Biospecimen Collection (Procedure)
Undergo blood sample collection
Chest Radiography (Procedure)
Undergo chest x-ray
Computed Tomography (Procedure)
Undergo CT or FDG PET/CT
Fludeoxyglucose F-18 (Other)
Given FDG
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Procedure)
Undergo MRI, PET/MRI or brain MRI
Patient Observation (Other)
Undergo observation
Positron Emission Tomography (Procedure)
Undergo whole body FDG PET/CT or PET/MRI
Re-Excision (Procedure)
Undergo narrow margin re-excision
Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (Procedure)
Undergo SLNB
Ultrasound Imaging (Procedure)
Undergo nodal basin ultrasound
Wide Local Excision (Procedure)
Undergo wide local excision

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients ≤ 25 years old * Newly diagnosed localized cutaneous melanoma, atypical Spitz/Spitzoid tumors, or other atypical melanocytic neoplasm by local institution pathology report * Patients must have disease that is localized to the skin on clinical assessment. Note that staging imaging is not required for the determination of eligibility, but if obtained prior to enrollment, all imaging must be consistent with localized cutaneous disease * Patients must have a performance status corresponding to Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) scores of 0, 1 or 2. Use Karnofsky for patients \> 16 years of age and Lansky for patients ≤ 16 years of age * Patients must not have received any prior chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation, or surgical therapy for melanoma other than the permitted biopsy/excision of the lesion for which they are enrolling. Note that prior biopsies/surgery for other benign melanocytic lesions is permitted Exclusion Criteria: * Patients ≥ 18 years old with conventional adult-type melanoma are excluded. Note that patients 18-25 years old with atypical Spitz/Spitzoid tumors, or other atypical melanocytic neoplasms are eligible * Patients with clinical evidence of metastatic disease such as palpable malignant adenopathy or symptomatic distant metastases are not eligible * Patients who have undergone re-excision to achieve a negative margin or sentinel lymph node biopsy for the melanocytic neoplasm under study are not eligible. Note that this does not exclude patients who have undergone the permitted diagnostic biopsy/excision, including re-biopsy, of the lesion * Any of the following diagnoses * Congenital nevi-associated proliferative nodules * Agminated Spitz nevi/tumors * Dysplastic nevus * Combined nevus * CRTC1::TRIM11 and/or MED15::ATF1 fused tumors (molecular testing is not required prior to enrollment) * Pre-existing conditions: * Solid organ transplant recipients * Known melanoma predisposition syndrome (i.e., patients with previously known pathogenic variants in moderate and high penetrance melanoma susceptibility genes \[i.e., CDKN2A, CDK4, BAP1, POT1, TERT promoter, ACD, TERF2IP\] or Xeroderma Pigmentosum). Note germline testing is not required prior to enrollment * All patients and/or their parents or legal guardians must sign a written informed consent * All institutional, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and National Cancer Institute (NCI) requirements for human studies must be met

Conditions

Clinical Stage 0 Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v8 Clinical Stage I Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v8 Clinical Stage II Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v8 Cutaneous Melanocytic Neoplasm Cutaneous Melanoma Cutaneous Spitz Melanocytoma Cutaneous Spitz Melanoma

Locations

Kaiser Permanente-Oakland — Oakland, California, United States
Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children — Wilmington, Delaware, United States
Nemours Children's Clinic-Jacksonville — Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Nemours Children's Hospital — Orlando, Florida, United States
Nemours Children's Clinic - Pensacola — Pensacola, Florida, United States
ProMedica Toledo Hospital/Russell J Ebeid Children's Hospital — Toledo, Ohio, United States
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
East Tennessee Childrens Hospital — Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital — Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas — Austin, Texas, United States
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center — Houston, Texas, United States
Primary Children's Hospital — Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

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Official Source

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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