Impact of gender and primary tumor location on outcome of patients with cutaneous melanoma

Background. The survival of patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma (MM) depends on multiple factors whose role is continuously updated, as the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease progression are understood. This study intended to assess whether the patient’s gender and tumor location affect the disease outcome. Methods. Between 2008 and 2012, 155 patients with cutaneous MM underwent various types of surgeries in our clinic. Patients were staged according to the 2009 TNM classification. There were 90 women and 65 men. Primary tumors were located as it follows head and neck region - 4.5%, limbs - 50.7% and trunk - 44.8%. The disease free and overall survival rates (DFS, OS) were estimated by using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results. Metastases developed in 52.3% of the males and 31.1% of the females (p=0.008). In univariate analysis, distant metastasis risk was significantly higher in men (p = 0.0472 for stage II patients and p = 0.0288 for stage III). In multivariate analysis, male gender almost doubled the risk of relapse (p = 0.044) and death (p = 0.022). Consequently, DFS and OS were significantly higher among females. Primary tumor location seemed to influence the melanoma spreading ability. Half of the trunk MM developed metastases while only a third of limbs MM did. The association between MM location and the recurrence risk was not random (p = 0.033). Conclusions. The patient gender represents an independent prognostic factor for both relapse and death. Although trunk MM had a significantly higher risk of metastasis than limbs MM, the location per se was not an independent prognostic factor for survival (p = 0.078). Abbreviations: MM = malignant melanoma, DFS = disease free survival, OS = overall survival, p = p value, AJCC = American Joint Commission on Cancer, CI = confidence interval