title: Role of age and sex in the diagnosis of early-stage malignant melanoma: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: Age and sex have been identified as predictors of outcome in malignant melanoma (MM). This aim of this multicentre, cross-sectional study was to analyse the role of age and sex as explanatory variables for the diagnosis of thin MM. A total of 2430 patients with MM were recruited. Cases of in situ-T1 MM were more frequent than T2-T4 MM (56.26% vs. 43.74%). Breslow thickness increased throughout decades of life (analysis of variance (ANOVA) p < 0.001), with a weak correlation between Breslow thickness and patient's age (r   = 0.202, p < 0.001). Breslow thickness was significantly less in women (1.79 vs. 2.38 mm, p = 0.0001). Binary logistic regression showed a significant (p < 0.001) odds ratio for age 0-29 years (1.18), and 30-59 years (1.16), and for women (1.09). Age and sex explained 3.64% of the variation observed in Tis-T1 frequency (R2 = 0.0364). Age and sex appear to explain a low percentage of the variation in the early detection of MM.
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Unit, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, ES-41009 Seville, Spain. dmoreno@e-derma.org.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moreno-Ramírez
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ojeda-Vila
authors.forename: Juan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ríos-Martín
authors.forename: Adoración
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nieto-García
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrándiz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012737:Sex Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D047368:Tumor Burden; D055815:Young Adult