Mortality Appears To Be Higher For Patients With Thicker Single Primary Melanomas Than For Thicker Multiple Primary Melanomas

Date: Jun-19-2013JAMA Dermatology Study Highlights

Although overall mortality rates due to single primary melanomas (SPMs) and multiple primary melanomas (MPMs) appear to be similar, relative mortality for thicker SPM appears to be greater than that for thicker MPM, according to a study by Anne Kricker, Ph.D., of the University of Sydney, Australia and colleagues. (Online First)

A total of 2,372 patients with SPM and 1,206 patients with MPM participated in the study. Melanoma thickness was the main determinant of mortality; other independent predictors were ulceration, mitoses (cell division), and scalp location. After adjustment for these factors, the researchers found little difference in mortality rates between MPM and SPM. Thicker SPM, however, had higher mortality rates than thicker MPM, according to the study results.

"We found no strong evidence of a difference in survival between SPM and MPM patients despite the evidence of other researchers and suggestions that MPM may have a less aggressive biology than SPM...to our knowledge, we report for the first time a greater increase in the risk of death with increasing tumor thickness for SPM than for MPM," the authors conclude.
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