Thicker Melanoma Tumor Size Tied to Higher Risk of 20-Year Melanoma-Related Death

FRIDAY, Dec. 13, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Risk of 20-year melanoma-related death increases significantly for patients with primary tumors of 0.8 to 1.0 mm in thickness, according to a study published online Dec. 11 in JAMA Dermatology.

Serigne N. Lo, Ph.D., from the University of Sydney, and colleagues assessed the relative effect of a 0.8-mm Breslow thickness threshold with respect to the incidence of both melanoma-related and nonmelanoma-related death. Analysis included registry data for 144,447 individuals diagnosed with thin invasive primary melanomas between 1982 and 2014.

The researchers found that crude incidence rates of melanoma-related death 20 years after diagnosis were 6.3 percent for the whole cohort, 6.0 percent for tumors <0.8 mm, and 12.0 percent for tumors 0.8 to 1.0 mm. The corresponding 20-year melanoma-specific survival rates were 91.9 percent overall and 94.2 and 87.8 percent, respectively, across tumor sizes. Tumor thickness of 0.8 to 1.0 mm was significantly associated with both a greater absolute risk of melanoma-related death (subdistribution hazard ratio, 2.92), as well as a greater rate of melanoma-related death (hazard ratio, 2.98), compared to thinner tumors (<0.8 mm). There was no association seen between risk of death from nonmelanoma-related causes and Breslow thickness.

“The findings of this large-scale population-based analysis suggest the separation of risk for patients with melanomas with a Breslow thickness above and below 0.8 mm,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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