Liang C, Hu W, Li J, et al. - Whether time to recurrence (TTR) has prognostic significance for overall survival (OS) and survival after recurrence (SAR) in patients suffering from localized or regionally advanced cutaneous melanoma, was inquired herein. Participants were 731 cutaneous melanoma patients who received an initial diagnosis of 8th American Joint Committee on Cancer clinical stage I‐III. Deaths of 329 patients (45%), and recurrence in 418 patients (57%), was documented. Recurrence occurred in <6 months in 141 patients (19%) and in ≥6 months in 277 patients (38%). The early TTR group was found to have significantly poorer both the OS and SAR rates at 5 years and 10 years, vs those in the late TTR group. Overall, worse survival was predicted by early TTR, and it could be regarded as an independent prognostic factor for localized or regionally advanced cutaneous melanoma cases. Assessment of TTR is recommended in all cases with recurrence to guide post‐recurrence risk stratification as well as follow‐up schedules.