Late recurrence of malignant melanoma: a report of five cases, a review of the literature and a study of associated factors.
This is a study of factors associated with late recurrence (i.e. 10 or more years after definitive surgery) of cutaneous malignant melanoma (MM). Four factors were evaluated: Breslow thickness, site of the primary MM, age of the patient at initial treatment for MM, and gender. These factors were compared between two groups: (1) Stage I cases in the New York University Melanoma Cooperative Group (NYU-MCG) database that had 'early recurrence' (less than 10 years) of MM, and (2) cases in the literature with late recurrence of MM plus five new cases reported here. Compared to the group of patients with 'early recurrence' of MM, the group of patients who had late recurrence of MM were found more likely to have thinner primary melanomas (p less than 0.001), to be younger (p less than 0.001), to be female (p = 0.001), and, for females, to have the MM located on an extremity (p = 0.017). Because late recurrence does occur and because the risk of developing a new primary MM is increased in MM patients, any patient who has had a MM should be followed for life.
Levy
E
E
Department of Dermatology, University School of Medicine, New York, NY.
Silverman
M K
MK
Vossaert
K A
KA
Kopf
A W
AW
Bart
R S
RS
Golomb
F M
FM
Levenstein
M J
MJ
D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D000328:Adult; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D005121:Extremities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D013997:Time Factors