Stage 3B: Potential Benefits of Adjuvant Treatment
Without Adjuvant Treatment
Figure A: Stage 3B Melanoma: Recurrence free at 5 years without treatment
Figure A explanatory : The diagram above shows data for individuals 5 years after receiving a Stage 3B diagnosis. It is based on a study3 using a global international melanoma database from ten countries (Eighth Edition International Melanoma Database)1.
For 100 people diagnosed with Stage 3B melanoma who are treated with surgery alone (and do not have adjuvant therapy), we would expect 83 people to have had no further recurrence of their melanoma five years after surgery. This is 83% of individuals — shown in yellow.
After the same period (within five years of their surgery), seventeen people in the group will have needed more treatment for their melanoma. The melanoma will therefore have recurred (returned) in 17% of individuals — shown in purple.
At ten years after surgery, 77% of people are recurrence free. The melanoma has returned in 23% of people.