Incidence and outcomes of pediatric extremity melanoma: A propensity score matched SEER study

Abstract Background There is a paucity of literature on treatment of melanoma in children with surgical management extrapolated from adult experience. The incidence and clinical outcomes of pediatric extremity melanoma were studied. Methods SEER registry was analyzed between 1973 and 2010 for patients Results Overall, 917 patients were identified with an age-adjusted incidence of 0.2/100,000 persons, annual percent change 0.96. Most had localized disease (77%), histology revealing melanoma-not otherwise specified (52%). Surgical procedures performed included wide local excision (50%), excisional biopsy (32%), lymphadenectomy (LA) (28%), and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) (15%). Overall, 30-year disease specific mortality was 7% with lower survival for extremity melanoma (90%), males (89%), nodular histology (69%), and upper distant disease (36%) (all P Conclusions Pediatric extremity melanoma in SEER demonstrate no survival advantage between children undergoing sampling procedures vs no sampling for regional/distant disease. Type of study Retrospective, prognostic study. Level of evidence III.