Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors is the standard of care in the treatment of advanced melanoma. Treatment outcome of these agents is less defined for the rare subtype of mucosal melanoma. In this single-institutional case series, the objective response rate was low at 11.8%, but durable response was seen, including a complete response to first-line ipilimumab and to second-line pembrolizumab. Survival remained poor; at the median follow-up of 10.1 months, the median progression-free survival and overall survival were 3.1 and 8.8 months respectively. Nevertheless, among the few responders, survival of up to 56+ months was observed. Other treatment strategies need to be explored to improve treatment outcome for this rare subtype.
Keywords: immunotherapy; ipilimumab; melanoma; nivolumab; pembrolizumab.