title: Long-term Survival of Patients With Invasive Ultra-thin Cutaneous Melanoma: A Single-center Retrospective Analysis.
abstract: The incidence of cutaneous melanoma is increasing worldwide, especially for thin melanoma (Breslow ≤1 mm). Thin cutaneous melanoma has a favorable prognosis but there are few data about the prognosis of patients with ultra-thin cutaneous melanoma (Breslow ≤ 0.5 mm). Our aim was to investigate the disease-free survival among patients with invasive cutaneous melanoma with Breslow ≤ 0.5 mm after 10 years from the initial diagnosis.A retrospective review of 240 cutaneous melanoma patients with Breslow ≤ 0.5 mm was performed. Recurrence, death from cutaneous melanoma, and disease-free survival were all identified.In the whole group of patients, we observed only 2 deaths from cutaneous melanoma. Median follow-up was 13, 11 years. Among all 240 patients, 221 were alive and disease free, 2 died of cutaneous melanoma, 11 died of other non-neoplastic diseases, 5 died of other neoplastic diseases different from melanoma, and 1 patient had a local recurrence; therefore the 10-year melanoma survival rate was 99.6%.Our data indicate that death from cutaneous melanoma in the group of patients with Breslow ≤0.5 mm was a very rare event and that diagnosis at this stage dramatically decreases the risk of developing metastatic tumors to a <0.5% also after a 10-year period of follow-up. Limitation of the study includes the fact that other risk factors for melanoma, notably ulceration, and mitotic rate, were not evaluated.
authors.affiliation: From the Melanoma and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Unit, Veneto Institute of Oncology, IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy (AV, LC, MR, CRR); and Dermatology Unit, University of Padua, Padua, Italy (EZ, GDB, MA).
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vecchiato
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zonta
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Campana
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dal Bello
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rastrelli
authors.forename: Carlo Riccardo
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alaibac
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors