Assessment of risk factors in melanoma in women less than 50 years of age

The authors analyzed the risk factors and outcomes of melanoma in women less than 50 years of age. The authors concluded that regular skin-checkup and self-examination would be necessary for women less than 50 years of age. 

In the last few decades, incidence of skin melanoma has been rising, specially among women between 20 to 40 years of age. Based on a recent study in Sweden, melanoma has been identified as one of the most common cancers diagnosed during pregnancy.

Analysis of the risk factors and outcome of this disease in a larger patient population is needed to evaluate the importance of this trend. 

The authors aimed to assess the risk factors of melanoma in women less than 50 years of age.

462 women patients were included in this study. All patients were below 49 years of age and were diagnosed with melanoma between 1988 and 2012. Patients with a follow-up of less than 2 years were excluded from this study.

In patients less than 19 years of age, melanoma that had spread to deeper layers of skin was less common. Rates of recurrence were highest for women diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 29 (3.7%) and the ages of 40 and 49 (5.2%). Among women between 40 and 49 years of age, the rate of melanoma spread to nearby lymph nodes (small bean-shaped organs which help to fight infection) was 45.9%. This was 2 to 3 times higher than rates seen in younger age groups. Melanoma spread to other parts of the body and deaths from this disease were also higher in this age group.

41 patients were diagnosed during or in the first year following pregnancy. These patients had a 9-fold increase in relapse, 7-fold increase in disease spread and 5-fold increase in mortality rates compared to women without pregnancy-related melanoma.

The authors concluded that regular skin-checkup and self-examination should be recommended for women less than 50 years of age. They also suggested that women diagnosed with melanoma within 1 year of pregnancy should be monitored for relapse on a regular basis.