TY - JOUR
T1 - Mucosal melanomas in the racially diverse population of California
AU - Altieri, Lisa
AU - Wong, Michael K.
AU - Peng, David H.
AU - Cockburn, Myles
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc.
PY - 2017/2
Y1 - 2017/2
N2 - Background Mucosal melanomas are rare, poorly understood neoplasms without a consensus standard of care. Objective We sought to define mucosal melanoma tumor characteristics and the racial/ethnic attributes of patients with mucosal melanomas. Methods We analyzed 130,920 cutaneous melanomas and 1919 mucosal melanomas recorded in the population-based California Cancer Registry from 1988 to 2013. Results Although only 1% of melanomas occurring in nonHispanic whites were mucosal, other racial/ethnic groups had a higher proportion of mucosal melanomas (15% for Asian/Pacific Islanders, 9% for nonHispanic blacks, and 4% for Hispanics). Anorectal mucosal melanomas were most common in female Asian/Pacific Islanders, whereas genitourinary mucosal melanomas were highest in nonHispanic whites, and head and neck tumors were most common among Hispanics. Stage at presentation was not uniform among racial/ethnic groups, with Asian/Pacific Islanders having the highest rates of metastasis. Limitations The lack of a standardized staging system for mucosal melanomas confounds classification and knowledge regarding metastasis. Small sample size limits comparative analysis across race, stage, site, and depth. Conclusion Mucosal melanomas differ by race/ethnicity with regard to anatomic site, stage, and depth. Because early detection offers the best chance of increased survival, greater awareness will aid clinicians who care for patients at risk for these aggressive tumors.
AB - Background Mucosal melanomas are rare, poorly understood neoplasms without a consensus standard of care. Objective We sought to define mucosal melanoma tumor characteristics and the racial/ethnic attributes of patients with mucosal melanomas. Methods We analyzed 130,920 cutaneous melanomas and 1919 mucosal melanomas recorded in the population-based California Cancer Registry from 1988 to 2013. Results Although only 1% of melanomas occurring in nonHispanic whites were mucosal, other racial/ethnic groups had a higher proportion of mucosal melanomas (15% for Asian/Pacific Islanders, 9% for nonHispanic blacks, and 4% for Hispanics). Anorectal mucosal melanomas were most common in female Asian/Pacific Islanders, whereas genitourinary mucosal melanomas were highest in nonHispanic whites, and head and neck tumors were most common among Hispanics. Stage at presentation was not uniform among racial/ethnic groups, with Asian/Pacific Islanders having the highest rates of metastasis. Limitations The lack of a standardized staging system for mucosal melanomas confounds classification and knowledge regarding metastasis. Small sample size limits comparative analysis across race, stage, site, and depth. Conclusion Mucosal melanomas differ by race/ethnicity with regard to anatomic site, stage, and depth. Because early detection offers the best chance of increased survival, greater awareness will aid clinicians who care for patients at risk for these aggressive tumors.
KW - California
KW - extracutaneous melanoma
KW - melanoma
KW - melanoma detection
KW - mucosal melanoma
KW - population-based database
KW - race/ethnicity
KW - screening
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85002050661&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jaad.2016.08.007
DO - 10.1016/j.jaad.2016.08.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 27742175
AN - SCOPUS:85002050661
SN - 0190-9622
VL - 76
SP - 250
EP - 257
JO - Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
IS - 2
ER -