MALIGNANT MELANOMA OF THE SKIN

The Occurrence and behavior of cutaneous melanomas in a group of 11 23 patients studied prospectively, is described in terms of histologic type, tumor thickness and levels of invasion, the patients’ sex and age, and the anatomic location of the priplary tumors. Associations amongst these attributes, and with survival, are also examined. The characteristics of the patients in this study (who on average are somewhat younger, and have better prognoses and survivals than those reported by most other groups) are compared with data obtained (primarily over the past decade) in other geographical areas, and with different patient populations. Evidence is presented that sex, tumor location, and age (in the case of males) are also predictive of survival. Cancer 52:1330-1341, 1983.