A CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL CORRELATION OF 134 STAGE-1 AND 79 NONINVASIVE CUTANEOUS MELANOMAS PRESENTING OVER A DECADE (1984-1993) AT THE MATER-MISERICORDIAE-HOSPITAL, DUBLIN

Citation
B. Odonnell et al., A CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL CORRELATION OF 134 STAGE-1 AND 79 NONINVASIVE CUTANEOUS MELANOMAS PRESENTING OVER A DECADE (1984-1993) AT THE MATER-MISERICORDIAE-HOSPITAL, DUBLIN, Irish journal of medical science, 167(3), 1998, pp. 132-135
Citations number
8
Categorie Soggetti
Medicine, General & Internal
ISSN journal
00211265
Volume
167
Issue
3
Year of publication
1998
Pages
132 - 135
Database
ISI
SICI code
0021-1265(1998)167:3<132:ACCO1S>2.0.ZU;2-P
Abstract
In a study of malignant melanoma during the period 1984-1993, 134 (63 per cent) had invasive melanoma and in 79 (37 per cent) melanoma was c onfined to the epidermis (in situ), There was female predominance, F : M = 2.4 : 1, a family history of melanoma in 1.5 per cent, a mean age at diagnosis of 50 yr, Females presented a decade earlier than males on average. Over half of invasive melanomas in females occurred on low er limbs; 40 per cent of lesions in males occurred on the trunk, Almos t one third of lesions in males and over two thirds in females occurre d in sun exposed area. Sixty per cent of invasive lesions were of the superficial spreading type and half of all lesions were histologically thin [less than 1.5 mm vertical depth], Surprisingly, median lesion t hickness was lower in males, probably reflecting the greater frequency of nodular lesions in females compared to males (36 per cent -v- 24 p er cent). The marked increase in the number of invasive melanoma patie nts presenting in the second half of the decade studied (treble that o f the first half) probably reflects an increase in melanoma incidence. Over the decade no change in invasive melanoma type, anatomical site or histological thickness was noted, the latter suggesting a failure t o diagnose melanoma at an increasingly earlier stage. An official mela noma public education programme is required, particularly as half of t he patients delayed 1 yr or more before seeking medical advice. Howeve r it is encouraging that, of the invasive melanomas, 30 per cent were small (<10mm), 50 per cent were histologically thin and that 37 per ce nt of all melanomas were in situ, The melanoma-in-situ group had a sim ilar gender ratio and mean age at diagnosis to the invasive melanoma p atients but lesions were smaller, were predominantly on the head, neck and limbs with lentigo melanoma as the commonest type.