Subungual melanoma: A 25-year review of cases

✍ Scribed by Dr. John M. Daly; Richard Berlin; Carlos Urmacher

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 444 KB
• Volume: 35
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-4790
• DOI: 10.1002/jso.2930350209

✦ Synopsis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate subungual melanoma as a sitespecific entity, to determine the influence of regional nodal involvement, and to ascertain where possible the role of histologic grading of the primary site. Thirty-three patients with subungual melanoma whose median age was 56 yr underwent treatment between 1950 and 1975. There were 11 male and 22 female patients. Forty-eight per cent of lesions occurred on the hand. Of 23 clinical stage I patients, seven patients underwent amputation only, while 16 patients underwent amputation and regional nodal dissection. Histologic examination of the primary tumor suggested a trend towards thickedulcerated lesions to be associated with metastatic melanoma in regional lymph nodes and/or death due to disease. Early survival patterns favored female patients but there was no significant difference in 10-year survival when analysed by patient sex. Clinical/ pathologic stages were the most significant factors affecting long-term survival with 5-and 10-year survivals of 66% and 55 % in stage I patients and 22 % and 0 % in stage I1 patients.