[Clinical and histopathological characteristics of malignant melanoma cases seen at "Dr. Manuel Gea González" General Hospital].

BACKGROUND: Melanoma is a type of tumor that arises from melanocytes generally located in the dermoepidermal junction. Although melanoma is found in less than 10% of cases, mortality is high representing 75% of deaths attributed to cutaneous cancer. There are four major subtypes: Superficial spreading melanoma, lentigo malignant melanoma, acral lentiginous melanoma and nodular melanoma. Superficial spreading melanoma is the most common type among Caucasians. In a Mexican case series, the nodular type is the most common type reported. The aim of this study was to determine the most common type seen at our medical facility. METHODS: We analyzed patient's medical records from March 1981 to December 2006. Demographic data included sex, age, place of residence, occupation, tumor progression, location and clinical description. Histologically we evaluated tumor thickness using the Breslow scale; invasion was measured using the Clark scale. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional and retrospective study. RESULTS: 165 patients were studied, 112 were females and 53 males. The most common location was the lower limb. Acral lentiginous melanoma was the most common subtype. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings differ from the other series where they report nodular and superficial spreading melanoma as the most common types. The most common subtypes in our study were acral lentiginous melanoma and lentigo malignant melanoma among females, with a ratio of female-male of 2.1:1.