Partial regression in thin primary cutaneous malignant melanomas clinical stage I: a study of 486 cases

486 patients with primary cutaneous malignant melanoma clinical stage I were examined in order to evaluate the prognostic importance of partial regression in thin lesions. All the melanomas measured 1 mm or less in maximal thickness. The study showed that past regression with fibrotic scar tissue ad...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Virchows Archiv A Pathological Anatomy and Histopathology 1985-01, Vol.408 (2-3), p.241-247
Main Authors: SØNDERGAARD, K, HOU-JENSEN, K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Dermatology
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Melanoma - pathology
Neoplasm Regression, Spontaneous
Neoplasm Staging
Prognosis
Skin Neoplasms - pathology
Tumors of the skin and soft tissue. Premalignant lesions
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Summary:486 patients with primary cutaneous malignant melanoma clinical stage I were examined in order to evaluate the prognostic importance of partial regression in thin lesions. All the melanomas measured 1 mm or less in maximal thickness. The study showed that past regression with fibrotic scar tissue adversely affected survival in patients with thin melanomas. The 10 year survival was 95% for patients without regression in contrast to 79% for patients with past regression. It was, furthermore, demonstrated that active regression without fibrotic scar tissue did not influence survival significantly. The wider and the thicker the fibrotic area, the poorer the survival. Although the prognostic importance of this finding was not statistically significant, we suggest that the horizontal width of the fibrotic area in particular may be a valuable prognostic guide in thin melanomas with past regression.
ISSN:0174-7398
1432-2307
DOI:10.1007/BF00707986