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Mucosal melanomas differ by race, ethnicity
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Mucosal melanomas differed by race and ethnicity with regard to anatomic site and stage, according to study results recently published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Researchers used data from the population-based California Cancer Registry between 1988 and 2013 to analyze 130,920 cutaneous melanomas and 1,919 mucosal melanomas.
Among melanomas in non-Hispanic whites, 1% were mucosal, compared with 15% for Asian/Pacific Islanders, 9% for non-Hispanic blacks and 4% for Hispanics.
The most common sites of the mucosal melanomas were genitourinary (39.1%), nasal/sinus (23.8%), anorectal (18.2%) and oral cavity (9.5%). Of the mucosal melanomas, 72.6% were diagnosed in non-Hispanic whites, 2.6% in non-Hispanic blacks, 15.2% in Hispanics and 9.7% in Asian/Pacific Islanders.
Female Asian/Pacific Islanders were most likely to have anorectal mucosal melanomas, while nonHispanic whites had the highest percentage of genitourinary mucosal melanomas and Hispanics were most likely to have head and neck tumors.
Asian/Pacific Islanders had the highest rates of metastases. The stage of presentation varied among races and ethnicities.
“In comparison with non-Hispanic white populations, a larger proportion of melanomas occurring in Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and non-Hispanic black populations were mucosal rather than cutaneous,” the researchers wrote. “The stage of presentation varied with respect to race/ethnicity, and some of the most prominent differences were observed in Asian/Pacific Islanders.”
“Because early detection offers the best chance of increased survival, future efforts should focus on increasing awareness and screening efforts of mucosal melanoma, while simultaneously researching the genetic changes underlying mucosal melanomas in hopes of developing systemic therapies for these aggressive tumors,” the researchers concluded. – by Bruce Thiel
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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