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Malignant Melanoma in Queensland: *
Author(s) -
Beardmore Graeme L.,
Davis Neville C.,
McLeod Roderick,
Little John H.,
Quinn Redmond L.,
Burry Alastair F.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
australasian journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.67
H-Index - 53
eISSN - 1440-0960
pISSN - 0004-8380
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-0960.1969.tb01186.x
Subject(s) - medicine , melanoma , thigh , disease , cause of death , lesion , cohort , dermatology , surgery , cancer research
SUMMARY A series of 219 patients who died within five years of histological diagnosis of their melanoma is reported. One hundred and fifty‐eight died of melanoma and in three melanoma contributed to death. Male to female ratio was about 2:1 There was a progressive increase of deaths in each cohort in males with aging, but in females only after 60 years of age. Fatal melanomas arose most commonly on the back. Face and thigh lesions were responsible for an approximately equal number of deaths and thigh lesions were shown to have a worse outlook than melanoma of the leg. This series contained a large proportion of patients with melanomas bigger than 2 cm. and of the 13 patients with lesions larger than 3 cm., 10 had metastases on registration with the Queensland Melanoma Project. The presence of only three flat melanomas would indicate a generally better outlook for this type of lesion. Ulceration and bleeding suggested a poor prognosis. The large number of patients (78) who had microscopic evidence of metastases on registration contributed to the poor survival in this series. Of the 78, 30 patients presented with metastatic disease and no primary melanoma was found. The findings from 29 autopsies indicated the ability of melanoma to disseminate widely. Fifty‐one patients died from causes other than melanoma, the more common being cardio‐vascular and cerebro‐vascular disease.