Abstract
Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is responsible for 75% of deaths from malignant skin cancer. The incidence of CM in the southern region of Brazil, particularly in the western region of Santa Catarina, is possibly higher than estimated. In this study, the clinical and epidemiological profile of patients with CM treated in the western region of Santa Catarina was examined. A cross-sectional study was performed with patients diagnosed with CM from January 2002 to December 2009, from 78 counties of the western region of the state of Santa Catarina. Data were collected using a protocol adapted from the Brazilian Melanoma Group and 503 patients were evaluated. The incidence and prevalence of CM found in this region are much higher than those found elsewhere in the country. This fact is most likely due to the phenotypic characteristics of the population and the high incidence of UV radiation in this region due to its location in southern Brazil, as is the case in the countries of Oceania.
Highlights
Among skin cancers, cutaneous melanoma (CM) is the least frequent
All records pertaining to the western region of Santa Catarina (Figure 1) with an initial diagnosis of CM were included in this study and excluded those with ocular melanoma, mucosal melanoma, and visceral melanoma
We found that the most common histological type was superficial spreading CM (SSM) with 287 cases (59.92%), followed by nodular CM (NM) with 90 cases (18.79%), lentigo maligna CM (LMM) with 33 (8.89%), acral lentiginous (ALM) with 17 (3.55%), and desmoplastic (DM) in 3 cases (0.63%)
Summary
Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is the least frequent. It presents a higher mortality rate, mostly due to its ability to invade and spread through different tissues [1]. When detected in its early stages, it has a high cure rate [2]. CM occurs predominantly in white populations [1]. The CM incidence rates are high in Northern Europe, North America, and Australia and low among the indigenous population of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and southern Europe [3]. In New Zealand and Australia, in 2002, a global analysis showed an incidence of CM among men of 37.7 cases per 100 000 inhabitants and 29.4 among women [4]
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