Poster Presentation Australasian Melanoma Conference 2026

MELGROUP: A pilot group therapy for people diagnosed with stage III melanoma (#413)

Jake Thompson 1 2 , Tayla McCutcheon 1 2 , Claire Gore 1 2 , Lisa Gomes 1 2 , Kelly Nunes-Zlotkowski 1 2 , Zoe Dudley 1 2 , Robyn P M Saw 1 2 3 4 , Alexander Menzies 1 2 5 6 , Maria Gonzalez 1 2 , Lucille Foster 2 , Toni Lindsay 7 , Ingrid Kivikoski 8 , Iris Bartula 1
  1. Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. Melanoma Institute Australia, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Department of Melanoma and Surgical Oncology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
  4. Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  5. Department of Medical Oncology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  6. Department of Medical Oncology, Mater Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  7. Chris O’Brien Lifehouse Cancer Centre, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
  8. Consumer Representative, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Background

Melanoma survivors commonly present with symptoms of distress, depression and anxiety. However, the psychological care needs of those people are still unmet, in part due to lack of access to services and limited workforce capacity. Group psychotherapy may address those barriers by expanding the reach of psychological treatment. MELGROUP is a pilot study conducted at the Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA), aimed at investigating the acceptability and feasibility of a group psychotherapy intervention for individuals diagnosed with stage III melanoma.

Methods

This is a mixed-method, longitudinal study measuring the acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility, and effectiveness of MELGROUP, as well as the possible barriers and enablers to implementation. We aim to recruit 32 MIA patients diagnosed with stage III melanoma, with two groups of 8 participants receiving in-person therapy (n=16), and two groups of 8 participants receiving online therapy (n=16). MELGROUP utilises Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles and will be delivered by two psychologists over 8 two-hour sessions fortnightly. Distress, depression, anxiety, stress, quality-of-life, and coping/self-efficacy data will be collected via standardised surveys. Service satisfaction will be assessed using a purpose-developed Client Satisfaction Survey. Service parameters data will be accessed from clinical files. Quantitative data will be analysed using descriptive statistics, and qualitative data will be analysed using Thematic Analysis. This study was approved by the Sydney Local Health District – Royal Prince Alfred Zone (2023/ETH00561) and registered at the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR); ACTRN 12623 00081 5662.

Results

MELGROUP was launched in April 2026 and is currently recruiting participants. This poster will provide an overview of preliminary results to date. It is hypothesised that MELGROUP will result in a feasible intervention and be considered acceptable and appropriate. Intervention results are expected to demonstrate a decrease in distress, as well as increase in well-being, social connectedness, and quality-of-life for participants.

Conclusion

MELGROUP is the first study to trial an ACT group-based intervention in melanoma. This study will inform future larger trialling and implementation of group-based interventions for patients diagnosed with melanoma.