Clinical and epidemiological features of malignant melanoma: A 5-year single-center retrospective study

Skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer found globally. Malignant melanoma (MM) (4-6%) is rare but very aggressive, accounting for about 75% of deaths from skin cancer. This is a retrospective study that aims to make an update on the information available, in the light of the latest developments in the literature, to retrospectively describe the demographics, clinical features, histopathology, and management of MM cases treated at a single oncology center. Sixteen patients were diagnosed with MM, accounting for 19.05% of the total number of hospitalized skin cancers. The patient group included 81.25% of patients over 55 years of age, 75% of those originating from the urban areas and 68.75% being females. Smoking and actinic keratosis were found in a percentage of 31.25% of patients. Axillary lymph node metastases were found in 31.25% of cases, while cerebral ones in 18.75%. The most common primary location was the extremities (50%). Sentinel lymph node biopsy was performed in 87.50% of patients. Palliative radiotherapy was done for all cases while chemotherapy was performed only in 18.75% patients, and immunotherapy in 37.50% of them. Although significant progress has been made in understanding both the biology and genetics of melanoma and its therapeutic approaches, this malignancy is still a major problem worldwide due to its high incidence and lack of curative treatment for advanced stages.