Clinicopathologic features and survival in Spitzoid malignant melanoma and conventional malignant melanoma.
BACKGROUND
Although recent advances in genetics have revealed distinct mutational profiles and molecular signaling pathways associated with Spitzoid malignant melanoma (SMM), less is known about the clinicopathologic characteristics and behavior of SMM compared with conventional melanoma.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine the clinicopathologic characteristics and mortality risk associated with SMM and conventional malignant melanoma.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective study of 30 patients with SMM and 30 patients with conventional melanoma. The two groups were matched by age, gender, and depth of tumor invasion. Additional patient- and tumor-level characteristics were compared between groups and regression modeling was used to assess relative mortality risk.


RESULTS
Unadjusted analyses of SMM and conventional malignant melanoma revealed no significant differences in clinical impression, anatomic location, mitotic rate, and presence of ulceration. Sentinel lymph node biopsy, completion lymphadenectomy, and visceral metastases did not differ between groups. Cox proportional hazards regression showed no differences in mortality between Spitzoid and conventional melanoma.


CONCLUSIONS
Small sample size, short follow-up duration, and residual confounding may limit the accuracy and generalizability of our results.


CONCLUSIONS
SMM and conventional malignant melanoma differ in some clinicopathologic features. We did not find a statistically significant difference in mortality between the two.
Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Kristina
K
Semkova
Department of Dermatology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; US Department of Veterans Affairs, West Haven, Connecticut.
Jason P
JP
Lott
Department of Dermatology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut. Electronic address: rossitza.lazova@yale.edu.
Rossitza
R
Lazova
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*
Spitzoid malignant melanoma; conventional melanoma; melanoma; metastasis; prognosis; sentinel lymph node; sentinel lymph node biopsy; survival