A statistical survey of melanomas of the foot

Malignant Melanoma Amongst Maori and New Zealand Europeans, 2000–2004

“…More than 90% of CM occurs on sun‐exposed areas in Caucasians. Compare this to 67% of dark‐skinned populations with CM, which occurs at sites with little exposure to the sun (e.g., subungual, palmer, or plantar surfaces) [15]. The anatomic distribution of CM among male and female Maori appears similar to that for New Zealand Europeans.…”

Anatomic Distribution of Malignant Melanoma on the Non-Hispanic Black Patient, 1998-2007

“…We were challenged by the systematic grouping of the anatomic site within our data. Cancer registries consolidate the foot with the lower limb and hip, which limited our ability to compare our findings with earlier reports [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] that found an increased occurrence of melanoma on the foot of black patients. Nonetheless, by using the histological features of acral lentiginous melanoma, we report approximately 26% of the overall diagnoses of the lower limb and hip did present on the foot, although this proportion likely remains an underestimate because acral lentiginous melanoma is not coded for the plantar region.…”

“…Recent investigations into the anatomic site of melanoma have focused on the distribution as it relates to white patients, with authors often citing a limited number of cases as the principal reason for the exclusion of black patients from their analyses. [9][10][11] For most published works [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] focusing on black patients, the research dates back to the early to mid 1900s. Nonetheless, these studies coupled with more recent findings [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] have found melanoma to present most frequently on non-sunexposed areas, specifically the foot.…”

Diagnosis and Treatment of Malignant Melanoma of the Foot

“…Other subtypes that occur less frequently in the feet are superficial spreading, nodular, and lentigo malignant melanoma. 13,23,24,35,37 The differences in the histologic subtypes are almost impossible to determine by visual inspection but are determined by pathologic evaluation. In Caucasian patients, more than 90% of melanomas occur in sun-exposed skin and are associated with intermittent sun exposure, especially blistering sunburns.…”

“…1,30,39 In dark-skinned persons, as many as 67% of melanomas arise in the less pigmented, less sun-exposed skin areas such as the acral locations. 23,29 Foot melanoma is relatively rare in white populations, representing 1% to 9% of all diagnosed melanomas, compared with 51% to 82% in Asians and 60% to 70% in Afro-Caribbean populations. 13,22,25,32 The prevailing belief is that ALM occurs at the same rate in all races.…”