Peculiarities of clinical course of the skin melanoma of the head and neck and the factors affecting the survival of patients

Abstract

It was found that melanomas of the skin of the head and neck, compared to the trunk and limbs, were characterized by a greater proportion of men, an older average age of the patients, high frequency spindle cell tumors, more frequent synchronous distant metastasis and worse survival. Melanomas, which are localized on the skin of the neck and scalp, have similar aggressive clinical course and are characterized by the worst overall and disease-free survival rates than skin melanomas of the trunk and limbs. However, melanomas of the skin of the ear and face proceed more favorably as compared to skin melanomas of the scalp and neck. Multivariate regression analysis using Cox models showed that the melanoma of the head and neck Breslow tumor thickness was the strongest predictor of overall survival. For skin melanomas of the neck and scalp Breslow tumor thickness was the only significant independent factor for overall survival. In melanoma, skin and ear predictors of survival are: sex, age and tumor thickness. In skin melanomas of the face and ear predictors of survival were sex, age and tumor thickness.