Clinical, Dermoscopic, and Histological Characteristics of Melanoma Patients According to the Age Groups: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Abstract

Although the role of melanoma risk factors is well documented, their correlation with patients' age is less frequently analyzed. The analysis was performed among 189 melanoma patients in different age groups, including <30 years, 31-60 years, and >60 years, to investigate the risk factors, topography, and coexistence of morphological features of 209 melanomas (dermoscopic and histopathological). Among the youngest age group, no correlation with the presence of estimated risk factors was found. The most common dermoscopic pattern was spitzoid and multicomponent asymmetric. The group of middle-aged patients was the most diverse in terms of the occurrence of risk factors, solar lentiginosis, dermoscopic patterns, topography, histological subtypes, and invasiveness of melanomas. The oldest group characterized a strong correlation between solar lentiginosis, NMSC comorbidity, the prevalence of facial melanomas, the dermoscopic pattern of melanoma arising on chronic sun-damaged skin, and regression. The findings regarding the presence of age-specific features in melanoma patients, especially in the youngest and middle-aged groups, might be helpful for clinicians and to target secondary prevention efforts.