title: Population-based analysis of prognostic factors and survival in familial melanoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Familial melanoma patients are reported to present with thinner melanomas, to be younger at the time of diagnosis, and to have a greater likelihood of developing multiple primary tumors. We sought to determine whether melanomas that occur in a familial setting demonstrate different prognostic and survival statistics relative to sporadic melanoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  This population-based study used the Utah Cancer Registry and Utah Population Database to objectively evaluate prognostic and survival statistics of the familial melanoma population. From 1973 to 1999, there were 7,785 cases of invasive melanoma identified through the Utah Cancer Registry. These were linked to the Utah Population Database, resulting in 2,659 subjects with family-history information from which a familiality score could be calculated. Cases scored in the top ninth percentile were assigned as high familial risk, and the remaining 91% were considered low familial risk.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multivariate logistic-regression analysis found no association between sex, Breslow depth, Clark level, or survival and the familial status. Age at first diagnosis of invasive melanoma was slightly lower in the high-familial-risk group (57 v 60 years; P = .03). High-familial-risk subjects had more melanomas diagnosed at age 30 or younger (12% v 6%; P < .001). A significant difference in the overall number of individuals with two or more primary malignant melanomas was not detected among the groups (P = .2).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that melanomas occurring in the context of an underlying inherited susceptibility do not have a significantly different biologic behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Melanoma Program, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
authors.forename: Scott R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Florell
authors.forename: Kenneth M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Boucher
authors.forename: Gilda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Garibotti
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Astle
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kerber
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mineau
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wiggins
authors.forename: R Dirk
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Noyes
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsodikov
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Cannon-Albright
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Zone
authors.forename: Wolfram E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Samlowski
authors.forename: Sancy A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Leachman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011379:Prognosis; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014589:Utah / Q000453:epidemiology