Lymphatic and blood vasculature in primary cutaneous melanomas of the scalp and neck

Background. Scalp/neck melanomas have a poor progno- sis, possibly because of a rich vascular supply that prompts tumor cells' dissemination. Methods. We compared the accuracy of immunohistochemical (IHC) staining with morphology for the identification of lymphovascular inva- sion in 156 scalp/neck melanomas. We then analyzed the association of vessel invasion and density with pathological features and survival. Results. IHC-detected lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) and blood vessel invasion (BVI) were identified in 34.6% and 13.5% of cases, respectively. IHC increased the LVI/BVI detection compared to morphology (40.4% vs 16.6%; p <.001). The degree of peritumoral and intratumoral blood vessel density (BVD) was greater than lymphatic vessel density (LVD). Ulceration was the only factor independently associated with intratu- moral (p 5.029) and peritumoral (p 5.047) BVD. Tumor thickness was the only independent predictor of survival (p 5.002). Conclusion. IHC allows accurate assessment of lymphovascular invasion in scalp/neck melanomas. In these tumors, we observed a high incidence of BVI, which deserves further investigations. V C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 00: 000-000, 2014