Clinical Study of Malignant Melanoma for Recent 14 Years.

Park, Dong Ha; Seo, Seung Jo; Park, Myong Chul; Pae, Nam Suk; Lee, Il Jae

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Original Article

Journal of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons 2009;36(3):299-305.
Published online May 1, 2009.

Clinical Study of Malignant Melanoma for Recent 14 Years.

Dong Ha Park, Seung Jo Seo, Myong Chul Park, Nam Suk Pae, Il Jae Lee

Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, School of Medicine, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea. growhand@hanmail.net

Abstract

PURPOSE
Recently, the incidence of malignant melanoma has been steadily increasing. Malignant melanoma is already known to have poorer prognosis than other primary skin cancers. Despite the poor prognosis, it is relatively less known to the public so that a number of patients visit hospital carrying advanced stage tumor. Yet, extensive study about malignant melanoma is currently insufficient, and specific guidelines and statistical figures in Korea are almost inexistent. Therefore, authors reviewed patients with malignant melanoma who have visited our hospital for last 14 years. METHODS: Between January 1994 and January 2008, 62 patients were diagnosed with malignant melanoma at our hospital. A retrospective study was performed with data from patients' charts and biopsy results. Annual incidence, mean age of onset, gender, tumor location, tumor thickness, pathologic ulceration, clinicopathologic subtype, and clinical AJCC stage were evaluated. Analysis of factors associated with survival were performed using the Cox proportional hazard model. Kaplan-Meier method was used to generate survival curves.
RESULTS
Clinicopathologic features of 62 patients (32 male, 30 female) with average age of 57 years were evaluated. Most lesions were found in lower limb, and the most common subtype was acral lentiginous melanoma. We could also find that age, tumor thickness, and clinical stage were the only significant prognostic factors.
CONCLUSION
Clinicopathologic features of malignant melanoma were analyzed in this study, but the result is not ready to be generalized because of the limited number of cases. Further study must be performed to report clinical guidelines for prognosis and treatment for malignant melanoma patients in Korea.

Keywords: Malignant melanoma; Survival rate

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