Analysis of patients diagnosed with primary cutaneous melanoma in the last six years in Hospital Erasto Gaertner: epidemiologic profile

Abstract

BACKGROUNDMelanoma is one of the conditions with greater increase in incidence worldwide in recent decades. It is a skin cancer with potential high lethality and predominates in Caucasian adults. Treatment of primary cutaneous melanoma is essentially surgical and search for sentinel lymph node can modify the aggressiveness of the treatment.OBJECTIVETo analyze the epidemiological profile of patients diagnosed with primary cutaneous melanoma, histopathological features and compare with literature data.METHODSThis is a retrospective, observational, single-center, case series study of patients with primary cutaneous melanoma, who underwent surgery between January 2008 and December 2013. The parameters include: Age, sex, clinical stage, date of surgery, tumor location, histological subtype, condition of surgical margins, Breslow thickness, mitotic index, presence of ulceration and metastasis on admission.RESULTSWe included 321 melanoma patients who were treated at Hospital Erasto Gaertner. The population consisted of 58.9% females and 41.1% males with an average age of 52.8 ± 16.3 years. As for the clinical stage, 51.1% were in the initial stage, 24.3% in the clinical stage II (A, B and C), 21.2% in clinical stage III and 3.4% with distant metastases. The most frequent location of the primary melanoma was the trunk, and the histological subtype was superficial spreading pattern. Intermediate and thick melanomas were the most frequent.STUDY LIMITATIONSThis is a retrospective study and some information and data could be incomplete or absent.CONCLUSIONThe diagnosis and treatment of melanoma in early stages provides less morbidity and improved survival of patients. Understanding the biological behavior of tumor and knowing the local epidemiology guide health strategies.

Clinical and sociodemographic profile of patients with cutaneous melanoma attended at an oncology referral hospital in Florianópolis between 2013 and 2017

“…In a study conducted in São Paulo by Melo et al ( 2018), (21) a slight predominance of cases was found among females (51.9%). Furthermore, in 2020, Wainstein et al (22) showed a majority of cases among women (57%), in addition to studies carried out in Brusque, SC (12) and Curitiba, PR (23) that also detected predominance of women (56.6% and 58.9%, respectively).…”

“…It is possible to find divergent data in the literature regarding this variable. According to Lima et al (2015) (12) and to Foiato et al ( 2018), (23) the trunk was also the most common location of primary tumors in studies carried out in the cities of Brusque and Curitiba, respectively. In contrast, Vazquez et al (2015) (29) demonstrated that the most prevalent location in Brazilian women was the lower limbs (36.3%).…”

Melanoma Cutâneo em um Hospital Universitário, 2001-2016

“…Em Minas Gerais, o lentigo maligno foi o mais comum. Esses dados mostram variação de acordo com as características populacionais 21,24 .…”

“…Em relação ao estadiamento, 83% dos extensivos superficiais e 91% dos lentigos malignos eram T1. Esse dado vai ao encontro de estatísticas de países de primeiro mundo, como os Estados Unidos, Suíça e Holanda, onde foram encontrados tumores finos em cerca de dois terços dos pacientes 14,18,24 . Em contrapartida, em estudo realizado por Vilanova et al 9 , no Nordeste brasileiro, foram encontrados apenas 27,6% de melanomas finos, com espessura média dos tumores de 8,8 mm e alta prevalência do subtipo nodular, retratando atraso no diagnóstico e piora no prognóstico dos pacientes 2,19,20,24 .…”

“…Nos que necessitaram de terapia adjuvante, a quimioterapia teve leve predominância sobre a radioterapia. Dos pacientes que possuíam informações em relação a metástases, 25% tiveram algum tipo de disseminação interna do tumor primário, semelhante ao estudo nordestino 24 . Pesquisadores de Belo Horizonte-MG, em 2013, no que diz respeito à metástase, encontraram apenas 13,4% 20 .…”