A retrospective observational study on clinical and histopathological correlational analysis of malignant melanoma

Background Malignant melanoma derives from the neuroectodermal mucosa. Melanoma accounts for 1-3 percent of malignancies in children and adults. The incidence and clinical properties of the disease are multifactorial and have biological and environmental variables. Tumor thickness was correlated to age, blood supply, site and nerve supply separately. Objective This study was made to determine the clinical and histopathological correlation of malignant melanoma. Material and Methods A retrospective observational study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital, Urumqi in China to study the clinical and histopathological correlation of malignant melanoma. A detailed history and thorough physical examination of patients, lab tests including primary or secondary tumor biopsies, complete blood count and PET scans help in diagnosis. Clinical staging was done on the basis of regional lymph node involvement and distant metastasis. Results The highest no. of patients (28.20%) was recorded for 60-69 years age group followed by (25.64%) in 70-79 years age group. The largest no. (30.76%) of cases comprised of acral lentiginous melanoma as well as nodular melanoma followed by lentigo maligna melanoma (20.51%) and superficial spreading melanoma (17.95%). The highest no. of patients (35.90%) had tumor thickness of 1-2 mm followed by (20.51%) cases had 2-4 mm, (17.95%) cases had <1 mm. However, not a single patient had tumor thickness of >4 mm in our study. Conclusion This study investigated histopathological and clinical results. The main result we found was that the trunk was involved to major extent than the periphery. Frequently involved subtypes were nodular melanoma and acral melanoma. Female are more commonly affected in this study then male 2:1.