Clinical practice guideline registry — melanoma¶
Last curated: 2026-09-01
Purpose. This is a document-level registry: what exists, from which body, in which version, and what it supersedes. The synthesis of what the documents recommend and where they disagree lives in ../../wiki/guidelines.md. Every PMID below was live-resolved from PubMed E-utilities on 2026-09-01; every web resource was fetched on the stated access date. "Current" means the newest document located in that named lineage, not universal authority.
Master table¶
| Body / group | Year | Region | Scope | Citation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EADO / EDF / EORTC | 2025 (update 2024) | Europe | Diagnostics | Garbe et al. PMID 39700658 | current; valid until end of 2026 per the document |
| EADO / EDF / EORTC | 2025 (update 2024) | Europe | Treatment | Garbe et al. PMID 39709737 | current |
| ESMO | 2025 | Europe / international | Cutaneous melanoma: diagnosis, treatment, follow-up | Amaral et al. PMID 39550033 | current |
| ESMO | 2019 | Europe / international | Cutaneous melanoma | Michielin et al. PMID 31566661 | superseded by → PMID 39550033 |
| ESMO | 2015 | Europe / international | Cutaneous melanoma | Dummer et al. PMID 26314774 | superseded by → PMID 31566661 |
| ESMO | 2012 | Europe / international | Cutaneous melanoma | Dummer et al. PMID 22997461 | superseded by → PMID 26314774 |
| ESMO-EURACAN | 2026 | Europe / international | Uveal melanoma | Piperno-Neumann et al. PMID 42020098 | current; first dedicated ESMO uveal document |
| ASCO | 2023 | US / international | Systemic therapy for melanoma | Seth et al. PMID 37579248 | current in that lineage |
| ASCO | 2021 | US / international | Management of immune-related adverse events | Schneider et al. PMID 34724392 | current; recommendations are expert consensus |
| European Society of Endocrinology | 2022 | Europe / international | Endocrine adverse conditions with checkpoint inhibition | Husebye et al. PMID 36149449 | current |
| American Academy of Dermatology | 2019 | US | Primary cutaneous melanoma management | Swetter et al. PMID 30392755 | current AAD document located |
| USPSTF | 2023 | US | Skin cancer screening | Mangione et al. PMID 37071089 | current; I statement; supersedes 2016 |
| USPSTF | 2016 | US | Skin cancer screening | Bibbins-Domingo et al. PMID 27458948 | superseded by → PMID 37071089; also an I statement |
| USPSTF | 2018 | US | Behavioral counselling to prevent skin cancer | Grossman et al. PMID 29558558 | current; B / C / I recommendations |
| USPSTF | 2018 | US | Evidence report for behavioural counselling | Henrikson et al. PMID 29558557 | supporting evidence report |
| Japanese Dermatological Association / Japanese Skin Cancer Society | 2025 | Japan | Melanoma, clinical questions | Fukushima et al. PMID 40511899 | current; supersedes 2019 outline |
| Japanese Dermatological Association | 2020 (2019 guidelines) | Japan | Cutaneous melanoma outline | Nakamura et al. PMID 31782186 | superseded by → PMID 40511899 |
| Australian clinical practice guidelines | 2019 | Australia | Detection and skin monitoring in high-risk individuals | Adler et al. PMID 30636296 | current in that lineage |
| Australian clinical practice guidelines | 2017 | Australia | Sentinel node biopsy indications, update | Gyorki et al. PMID 28718222 | update to the Australian guidelines |
| Australian clinical practice guidelines | 2019 | Australia | Clinician–pathologist communication for suspicious lesions | Scolyer et al. PMID 31220881 | companion commentary |
| Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) | 2020 | Canada (Ontario) | Locoregional management of in-transit metastasis | Wright et al. PMID 32669939 | current |
| Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology | 2015 | China | Melanoma diagnosis and treatment | Guo et al. PMID 26734632 (also PMID 27164849) | current located CSCO journal version |
| Chinese Anti-Cancer Association, Sarcoma Committee | 2020 | China | Surgical treatment of cutaneous/acral melanoma, V1.0 | PMID 32135640 | current consensus in that lineage |
| BAD / Royal College of Pathologists | 2018 | UK | TNM 8 implications for skin cancer | Keohane et al. PMID 29923189 | interpretive review, not a treatment guideline |
| UK guidelines group | 2010 | UK | Cutaneous melanoma management | Marsden et al. PMID 20608932 (also PMID 20728418) | superseded in practice by NICE NG14 |
| UK guidelines group | 2002 | UK | Cutaneous melanoma management | Roberts et al. PMID 11841361 | superseded by → PMID 20608932 |
| Australian Cancer Network | 2008 | Australia | Ocular and periocular melanoma | PMID 18983550 | current located document in that lineage; ageing |
| International Neoadjuvant Melanoma Consortium | 2018 | International | Pathological assessment after neoadjuvant therapy | Tetzlaff et al. PMID 29945191 | superseded in part by → PMID 41469296 |
| SITC + INMC | 2026 | International | Pan-tumour neoadjuvant pathologic-response scoring | Deutsch et al. PMID 41469296 | current |
| SITC | 2023 | International | Checkpoint inhibitor resistance definitions | Kluger et al. PMID 37487665 | current |
| Spanish Melanoma Group (GEM) | 2021 | Spain / international | Checkpoint immunotherapy in chronic infection and immunosuppression, including solid-organ transplantation | Gonzalez-Cao et al. PMID 33782108 | current located recommendations for this special population |
| Practical surgical guideline | 2016 | International | Surgical treatment of melanoma in pregnancy | Crisan et al. PMID 27240064 | dedicated practical guideline; ageing |
Web-published guideline resources¶
Fetched 2026-09-01; these are versioned continuously rather than published as journal articles.
| Body | Resource | URL | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCCN | Melanoma: Cutaneous (NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology) | https://www.nccn.org/guidelines/guidelines-detail?category=1&id=1492 | 2026-09-01 |
| NCCN | Uveal Melanoma (NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology) | https://www.nccn.org/guidelines/guidelines-detail?category=1&id=1488 | 2026-09-01 |
| NICE | NG14 — Melanoma: assessment and management | https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng14 | 2026-09-01 |
| Cancer Council Australia | Clinical practice guidelines and resources for melanoma | https://wiki.cancer.org.au/australia/Guidelines:Melanoma | 2026-09-01 |
| AWMF (German S3) | Leitlinienregister entry 032-024OL, melanoma | https://www.awmf.org/leitlinien/detail/ll/032-024OL.html | 2026-09-01 |
| USPSTF | Skin Cancer: Screening recommendation page | https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/skin-cancer-screening | 2026-09-01 |
Access caveat. A 200 response and a matching page title establish that the resource existed at that URL on the access date. It does not establish the version number of the document behind a login wall (NCCN requires registration for the full PDF), and it does not substitute for reading the document.
Guideline lineages¶
EADO / EDF / EORTC — the two-part European guideline¶
- Part 1, diagnostics (PMID 39700658) and Part 2, treatment (PMID 39709737) are a coordinated pair from the same collaboration and should be used together; the diagnostic staging thresholds in Part 1 determine which treatment recommendations in Part 2 apply.
- Part 1 states its own validity window explicitly: valid until the end of 2026. A registry entry for this lineage should be re-checked before then.
- Part 2 contains the field's most candid self-assessment: sentinel node biopsy "shall be offered" at ≥1.0 mm, or ≥0.8 mm with additional histological risk factors, "although there is as yet no clear survival benefit for this approach."
ESMO — cutaneous, then a separate uveal document¶
- 2012 → 2015 → 2019 → 2025 for cutaneous melanoma (PMIDs 22997461 → 26314774 → 31566661 → 39550033).
- The 2026 ESMO-EURACAN uveal melanoma guideline (PMID 42020098) is the first to split uveal melanoma out entirely, stating that it "focuses solely on UM" and directing readers to the cutaneous guideline for other types, with ESMO-MCBS scores attached to treatment choices. This is a document-level acknowledgement of the biological separation described in
../../wiki/uveal-melanoma.md.
USPSTF — three I statements¶
- 2009 → 2016 (PMID 27458948) → 2023 (PMID 37071089), each concluding that evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of visual skin examination in asymptomatic adolescents and adults.
- The 2016 statement names the reason: direct evidence was "limited to a single fair-quality ecologic study with important methodological limitations" — the SCREEN project (PMID 22074699).
- The adjacent behavioural-counselling recommendation (PMID 29558558) is the only positive USPSTF recommendation in this space: B for ages 6 months–24 years with fair skin, C for selective counselling above 24, I for counselling adults about skin self-examination.
Japanese Dermatological Association — the regionalisation lineage¶
- 2019 outline (PMID 31782186) → 2025 clinical questions (PMID 40511899).
- The 2025 revision states explicitly that previous Japanese versions primarily aimed to reflect global standards because of the scarcity of high-quality East Asian evidence, and that recent findings of differences in melanoma subtypes and drug efficacy between Western and East Asian populations motivated incorporating regional data. This is the clearest guideline-level statement anywhere that the melanoma evidence base is not transportable.
Neoadjuvant pathological-response assessment¶
- INMC 2018 (PMID 29945191) → joint SITC/INMC pan-tumour update 2026 (PMID 41469296).
- The 2018 document defines the pathological response categories on which PRADO and NADINA's de-escalation logic depends (PMID 35661157; PMID 38828984); without standardised specimen handling those categories are not comparable across centres.
Disagreements and gaps¶
| Domain | The disagreement | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| Population screening | USPSTF I statement versus operating national programs (Germany) versus risk-targeted surveillance (Australia) | PMID 37071089; PMID 30411137; PMID 30636296 |
| Adjuvant therapy in stage IIIA | European guideline includes stage III generally; validation data show IIIA survival exceeding IIB and IIC and question the indication | PMID 39709737; PMID 31401470 |
| Speed of neoadjuvant adoption | 2024 European update already recommends two neoadjuvant regimens on one phase 3 trial with 9.9 months' median follow-up and one challenged phase 2 trial | PMID 39709737; PMID 38828984; PMID 38621314 |
| Corticosteroids for immune toxicity | ASCO's general management approach versus the ESE conclusion that there is no clear benefit from high-dose glucocorticoids for endocrine events except in specific circumstances | PMID 34724392; PMID 36149449 |
| Mucosal melanoma staging | No consensus between mmTNM, Ballantyne/Prasad and squamous-cell TNM | PMID 31421470; PMID 23729399 |
| Regional transportability | Japanese 2025 guideline incorporates East Asian data; most other guidelines do not address transportability | PMID 40511899; PMID 35293617 |
Gaps in the registry itself. A dedicated 2016 practical surgical guideline was located for pregnancy (PMID 27240064), and 2021 Spanish Melanoma Group recommendations cover checkpoint immunotherapy in chronically infected or immunosuppressed patients, including solid-organ transplant recipients (PMID 33782108). No current dedicated guideline document was located for paediatric melanoma or acral melanoma. The ocular/periocular Australian document dates from 2008 (PMID 18983550). These are dated search findings from 2026-09-01, not proof that no document exists in another language or lineage.
Watch list¶
| Item | Why it is on the watch list | Expected |
|---|---|---|
| EADO/EDF/EORTC Parts 1 and 2 | Part 1 states validity to end of 2026 | Update due 2026–2027 |
| NCCN Melanoma: Cutaneous and Uveal Melanoma | Versioned continuously; the version behind the registration wall was not read in this build | Re-check each sweep |
| Any guideline response to NADINA | Neoadjuvant recommendations entered the 2024 European update before overall-survival data existed | Next ESMO/NCCN revision |
| Any guideline response to stage IIB/IIC PRFS2 | KEYNOTE-716's PRFS2 hazard ratio crosses 1.0 (PMID 40198940); no guideline has addressed it | Next revision |
| ASCO irAE guideline | 2021 update; the field has moved on corticosteroid dosing (PMID 39110922) | Update due |
| Mucosal melanoma staging consensus | Three competing systems with conflicting validation | No timetable |