SITE, HISTOLOGICAL TYPE, AND THICKNESS OF PRIMARY CUTANEOUS MALIGNANT-MELANOMA IN WESTERN NETHERLANDS SINCE 1980

An increasing incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma had been obser ved in the Netherlands, Therefore, between 1989 and 1992 a preventive skin cancer campaign was organized in part of western Netherlands, The effect of this screening campaign has yet to be evaluated by investig ating the distribution of all ill situ and invasive primary cutaneous melanoma according to anatomical subsite, tumour thickness, and histol ogical type in a population-based study during 1980-92. A total number of 2236 (1361 female; 875 male) invasive and 580 (395 female; 185 mal e) in situ melanomas were diagnosed, The median age of patients with t hin lesions was 46 years, intermediate lesions 54 years, and thick les ions 65 years, which may be indicative of slow tumour progression. The median thickness of the invasive lesions was 0.9 mm for women and 1.1 mm for men and the invasive to in situ ratio was 3.4 for female and 4. 7 for male subjects, suggesting a reasonable awareness of melanoma in this population, The relative tumour density (RTD) was remarkably high for melanomas in the head/neck area for both sexes and invasive melan oma on the male trunk and the lower legs of females, The low RTD of in vasive melanomas on the lower limbs of men and the high density in the head/neck area for both sexes are remarkable and support the aetiolog ical role of ultraviolet exposure, It is concluded that our findings a re in many ways similar to those of other descriptive studies.