Melanoma in the young: Differences and similarities with adult melanoma

Abstract

Novel amphiphilic biodegradable graft copolymer based on poly(aspartic acid) was prepared by attaching monomethoxy polyethylene glycol (mPEG) as hydrophiphic segment to poly(aspartic acid‐g‐octadecylamine) (PASP‐g‐ODA) as hydrophobic backbone. The chemical structures of amphiphilic copolymers were confirmed by FTIR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The polymeric micelles were prepared with solvent evaporation and their physicochemical properties in aqueous media were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and fluorescence spectroscopy. These micelles were confirmed to be pH‐sensitive by measuring optical transmittance of micelle solution and the size of micellar aggregates. The number average diameter of polymeric micelles prepared in medium at pH 2.5 was larger than that in neutral and basic medium and showed a bimodal size distribution because of the protonation of carboxyl groups in backbone. Furthermore, the polymeric micelle can load water‐insoluble drug (podophyllotoxin), and the drug release from micelles showed a pH‐dependency. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2006

Prognostic factors for melanoma in children and adolescents

“…46 In contrast to findings in adults, we observed that a positive SLNB was not associated significantly with additional positive lymph nodes identified at therapeutic lymph node dissection ( 10%) 41,48,50,51 or with a greater risk of death. 37 Similar to other reports, 18 we observed a higher SLNB-positive rate in patients aged 10 years (probably related to greater Breslow thickness), although the prognosis for survival was worse in the older group. Some authors have suggested that the better prognosis for children with a positive SLNB may be because of age-related changes in lymphatic flow density and the immune system, which is able to clear micrometastases.…”

“…Although nodular melanoma was the predominant type in some reports, 16,35 in our series, as in several others, 10,11,24,25,36,37 superficial spreading melanoma was the most common type. Nodular histology has been related to worse survival in children.…”

“…19 When comparing melanomas in children and adults, 37 after matching by thickness and year of diagnosis, no significant differences were observed in lymph node metastases, disease-free survival, or overall survival.…”

Challenging Problems in the Surgical Management of Melanoma

“…It has been shown that there is no significant difference in the five and ten year survival rates between adults and children [Balch, 1992] or between adolescents and pre-pubescent children [Livestro et al, 2007]. One fairly large study demonstrated an overall five year disease free survival of 83.2% [Livestro et al, 2007].…”

State of the science 60th anniversary review

“…27 More recently, Livestro et al conducted a case-control study comparing outcomes for childhood and adult melanomas, showing an equal or better outcome for children despite a higher rate of sentinel lymph node positivity. 28 Several reports of melanoma in pregnancy were published early in the history of Cancer. [29][30][31] In 1 population-based cancer registry of melanoma in pregnancy, the data suggested that melanoma during pregnancy carried a poor prognosis, although once the diagnosis was made, the course was not worse than expected for the stage.…”