title: BANS: a discussion of the problem.
abstract: The significance of the BANS location (upper Back, posterior Arm, Neck and Scalp) as a prognostic factor in patients with stage I melanoma is controversial. A meta-analysis performed by Weinstock et al. on their own and five comparable studies corroborated the hypothesis that this location is influential in the prognosis of intermediate thickness (0.76-1.69 mm) melanomas. Our study investigated the relationship between BANS subsites, thickness and prognosis in 1,082 stage I melanoma patients from two major Italian centres, Turin and Florence. A BANS primary was observed in 212 (19.5%) patients: recurrences occurred in 85 of them (40.1%) vs 309/870 non-BANS patients (35.5%). Overall survival probabilities were significantly shorter (p less than 0.01) in the BANS group (69.1% vs 76.7% at 5 years; 59% vs 68.5% at 10 years). The prognostic value of the BANS location was confirmed by a multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model. Stratification of BANS and non-BANS groups by thickness clusters showed a significant difference in both survival (p less than 0.001) and disease-free interval (p less than 0.05) in the 3.01-4.00 mm thickness subset, due to the greater incidence of distant and visceral metastases. In the 0.76-1.69 mm thickness range the significance was p = 0.06.
authors.affiliation: Dermatological Clinic, University of Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Bernengo
authors.forename: U M
authors.initials: UM
authors.lastname: Reali
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Doveil
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cappello
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lisa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moretti
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001132:Arm; D001415:Back; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D015993:Life Tables; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012535:Scalp; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate