Effect of Prior Pregnancy on Melanoma Survival

To the Editor.— Women who have been pregnant before the diagnosis of their cutaneous melanoma have been reported to have a greater survival rate than that noted for nulligravida women. The longer survival was said to be greater in women older than 50 years. Hersey et al 1 postulated that the exposure of women during pregnancy to foreign antigens may, in some way, result in enhanced resistance to their tumor. A review of 301 clinical stage I women with cutaneous melanoma (prospective consecutive series—Melanoma Clinical Cooperative Group—Massachusetts General Hospital and New York University [1972-1977]) revealed that neither the five-nor nine-year survival rates were statistically different when the nulligravida and the prior pregnancy groups were compared. The nine-year survival rate for the 92 never pregnant women was 87% compared to 83% for the 199 parous women. Of the 141 women older than 50 years, the nine-year survival rates were 86%