Malignant melanoma in South Africans of mixed ancestry

Abstract

Little is known about the behaviour of melanoma in patients of mixed ancestry. A retrospective analysis of 844 consecutive patients presenting with melanoma over a 12-year period was performed. Forty patients (4.8%) were of mixed ancestry. The data evaluated included patient age, gender, delay in presentation, presenting stage, anatomical distribution, histology, management and outcome. The mean age at presentation was 52.8 years. Twenty-seven patients were female. The mean delay in presentation was 1.54 years. Seventy per cent of melanomas were confined to the extremities, of which one-third were plantar in origin. The most common histological variant, affecting 13 patients (32.5%), was acral lentiginous melanoma; 12.5% of patients presented with in situ (Stage 0) disease, 17.5% with Stage I disease, 22.5% with Stage II disease, 27.5% with Stage III disease and 7.5% with Stage IV disease. Twenty-seven patients (67.5%) remained alive at the end of the study after a median follow-up of 5.58 years, whilst 11 (27.5%) died after a median of 2.42 years. The median survival was 3.92 years. Although the histological type and anatomical distribution reflect the disease pattern of black populations, the overall 5-year survival of 74% is similar to that seen in white populations. An education programme is needed to improve melanoma awareness in mixed race populations.

Melanoma in Maori, Asian, and Pacific Peoples in New Zealand

“…In a small South African study of 40 people of mixed ancestry with melanoma, ALM was the most common subtype (32.5%; ref. 16), and a similar preponderance of ALM (49%) was found in Japan (17). The current study presents a subtype distribution similar to those above.…”

Palmoplantar Malignant Melanoma in the Brazzaville University Hospital

“…The female preponderance of PPMM was noted in our setting which can explain the fact that that population is professionally active, in household activities and are more exposed to micro traumas in the plantar area which was also noted by Swan and al. [7] in other risk factors that might be associated with the oncogenesis of PPMM [4]. Our results are identical as the literature review of the PPMM site preferably at the feet in the African and also in the African American and the Chinese suggesting the hypothesis of the plantar low pigmentation and micro traumas [6].…”

Skin cancer in Egypt: A word in your ear

“…In this study, the prevalence of the skin cancer in males than in females of late adult life not only concurs others reports (Western societies, Tanzania, Nigeria, and South Africa) but also suggests that its development is a lengthy process. [1][2][3][11][12][13][14] The male sex predilection of skin cancer in Egypt is explained by the fact that men represent the main workforce (outdoor work) with more risk for UV exposure than women. 4 Alternatively, the weakening of the immune system by, disease or medication helps explain predilection for late adult life.…”