Malignant Melanoma, with emphasis on first relapse cases

ObjectivesMalignant melanoma is the eighth most commonly diagnosed malignancy in Nova Scotia, Canada. The incidence of and death from malignant melanoma are increasing, despite surgical resection of lesions. The risk for local recurrence after treatment is 3.2%. Our aim was to determine the characteristics of malignant melanoma and the risk for relapse in an industrial region of Nova Scotia.MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of the records of 90% of all melanoma patients in 1999–2010 in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (N = 100). Data were derived from the patients’ medical records kept at the Cape Breton District Health Authority.ResultsOf the 100 cases of malignant melanoma, 57 were in men and 43 were in women. Treatment consisted of local excision for 91 patients, therapeutic lymph node dissection for 5 and no treatment for 2. Relapses occurred in 16 patients (10 men, 6 women) between 2003 and 2010. Eleven of the 16 patients with relapses (69%) were alive at 1 year, four (25%) at 2 years and three (19%)] at 5 years. The majority, 80/100, of patients are still alive without malignant melanoma, while two patients are alive but with malignant melanoma. Of the 18 patients who died, eight died from malignant melanoma.ConclusionsWe obtained a better 5-year survival rate (82%) than that reported in the literature (73%). In Cape Breton, more men than women have malignant melanoma and are more likely to have local recurrence. The long-term survival rate after relapse was poor.