Background Subungual melanoma (SM) is rare. The lesions are thick at the time of diagnosis. Few studies have evaluated SM in Brazil. Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the factors associated with the survival of SM patients from the Brazilian National Cancer Institute. Methods One‐hundred and fifty‐seven patients diagnosed with SM were included in this study. We evaluated the epidemiologic, clinical, and histopathological data. Overall survival (OS) and relapse‐free survival (RFS) curves were computed using the Kaplan‐Meier method. Multivariable analyses were conducted using the Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results Among the 157 patients, 87 (55.4%) were female. The median age was 68 years old. Median tumor depth was 6.0 mm. Lesions were ulcerated in 94 (59.9%). OS and RFS rates for 5 years were 61.0% and 41.8%, respectively. Median follow‐up time was 28 months. The factors associated with OS were Breslow thickness and ulceration, and for RFS, they were the anatomical site, Breslow thickness, and ulceration. Conclusion This is the largest series of SM patients. The 5‐year OS and RFS rates were low (61.0% and 48.2%, respectively), and the main prognostic factors for OS were Breslow thickness and ulceration.

Acral melanoma (AM) is a rare subtype of melanoma arising on the palms, soles and subungual areas. In the Brazilian and Latin American populations, the sociodemographic and clinical-pathologic features of AM are unclear. AM tends to be more advanced at presentation because of delayed diagnoses, with poor survival. This study reports on a retrospective AM cohort from the Brazilian National Cancer Institute. We reviewed a database of 529 patients presenting with AM from 1997 to 2014 and analysed the sociodemographic and clinical-pathologic features of AM associated with overall survival and relapse-free survival. All patients were Brazilian, ranging in age from 19 to 101 years (mean 65.4; median 67.0). Two hundred and ninety-four (55.8%) patients were women. The Breslow primary lesion thicknesses ranged from 0.0 to 65.0 mm (mean 8.3 mm; median 5.0 mm). Of these patients, 43.3% had the acral lentiginous histologic subtype. Plantar was the most frequently involved site (68.5%), and ulcers and mitosis were present in 79.0 and 86.4% of these cases, respectively. Multivariate analysis results found that Breslow thickness of 1.03 (95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.05; P=0.01) and ulceration of 2.70 (95% confidence interval: 1.00-7.06; P=0.05) were poor prognostic indicators of overall survival. AM tumours were thick on diagnostic tests and were associated with poorer survival outcomes. Unfavourable prognosis likely derives from the delayed diagnosis compared with other melanoma subtypes.

Malignant degeneration of pilonidal cysts is rare. The most common histologic type is the squamous cell carcinoma, triggered by the chronic inflammatory process. The growth of the lesion is typically slow. The diagnosis must be early and the appropriate treatment is ample surgical resection, including the presacral fascia. In some cases, as the present one, the diagnosis is made at a stage when the disease has progressed and invaded adjacent structures. In these cases the surgery involves multiple organ resection. We report the case of a patient with carcinomatous degeneration of pilonidal cyst, with bulky disease that extended up to the wall of the rectum. The treatment was extended resection, sacrectomy and abominoperineal resection of the rectosigmoid with permanent colostomy.

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