title: Clinicopathological features and prognostic factors of cutaneous melanoma among Hong Kong Chinese.
abstract: Cutaneous melanoma is rare among Chinese people. The clinicopathologic features and prognostic factors of 63 Hong Kong ethnic Chinese cases were analysed. We found that the mean age of onset was 65.5 years with a female : male ratio of 1 : 1.33. Forty-two (66.7%) patients had their tumours on their feet. More than 50% had the acral lentiginous histologic subtype. The mean tumour thickness was 5.73 mm with 92.1% (n = 58) having a Clark's level of III or more. Of the tumours, 57.1% were ulcerated. Stage I and II tumours comprised 73% (n = 46) while stage III and IV tumours made up of 26% (n = 17). The 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 75%, 30% and 17%, respectively. Univariate analysis for overall survival showed that advanced clinical staging (stage III and IV), tumour ulceration and thicker tumour (>4 mm) had a significantly poorer prognosis. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that advanced clinical staging was the most decisive prognostic factor followed by tumour ulceration. Our study showed that cutaneous melanoma in Chinese people is a disease predominantly of an older age group with the acral lentiginous histologic type located mainly on the feet. The prognosis depends on clinical staging and ulceration status.
authors.affiliation: Social Hygiene Service, Department of Health, Hong Kong, China. tommyluk@hotmail.com
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Luk
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Yeung
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D016019:Survival Analysis