Cutaneous melanoma in Asian-Americans.
BACKGROUND
There is little information available on melanoma in non-white populations. Our objective was to characterize melanoma in Asian-Americans (AsA) and compare patient demographics and tumor characteristics with the non-Hispanic White (NHW) population.


METHODS
483,050 cutaneous melanoma patients diagnosed between 1986 and 2005 were identified using the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB); 1,237 were AsA, and 409,564 were NHW. Age, gender, site, histologic type, tumor thickness, AJCC stage, and survival were compared.


RESULTS
AsA were more likely to be diagnosed with acral lentiginous tumors (6.7%) than NHW (0.8%, P < 0.001). A greater proportion of AsA were diagnosed with T4 tumors (15.6%) than NHW (8.5%, P < 0.001). AsA presented with fewer early stage I-II tumors and more late stage III-IV tumors than NHW (P < 0.001). Survival was similar for AsA and NHW.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the largest study to date on melanoma in AsA. Compared to NHW, AsA are more likely to have acral lentinginous tumors, thick tumors, and higher stage. Despite this, their survival is similar to the NHW population.
Shin
Susanna
S
Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA.
Palis
Bryan E
BE
Phillips
Jerri Linn
JL
Stewart
Andrew K
AK
Perry
Roger R
RR
D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology