Introduction: The incidence of melanoma has increased more than the incidence of any other cancer in the past twenty years. There is no cure for advanced-staged melanoma and it's early diagnosis has become a main issue of health policy. Therefore, precise epidemiological data are needed. These data depend on the geographical setting and very few data are available for France. We studied these data in Strasbourg.
Patients and methods: All patients hospitalized for melanoma between 1960 and 1989 at the academic dermatology department, Strasbourg, were included in this retrospective, monocentric, study. The diagnosis of melanoma was confirmed in all cases by a dermatopathologist. Clinical, histopathologic and epidemiological data of the patients were recorded.
Results: Six hundred seventeen patients with a mean age of 52 years were included. The number of new patients hospitalized for melanoma grew steadily. The mean tumor thickness was 2.31 mm (+/- 1.59) and it remained unchanged between 1970 and 1989. The mean duration between the first clinical signs of melanoma and excision of the tumor was 22 months. Only 4 p. 100 of the melanomas were diagnosed by means of routine examination, and this concerned almost exclusively patients hospitalized after 1980. Eighty five p. 100 of the patients had localized melanoma (stage I) at time of diagnosis. Forty two p. 100 of the patients developed metastasis. The mean five year survival rate was 68 p. 100.
Conclusion: The number of new patients hospitalized each year for melanoma grew steadily, but the mean tumor thickness remained unchanged. This indicates that the ratio "thick"/"thin" melanomas has remained unchanged between 1960 and 1989 and that the number of melanomas of any thickness has increased. Clinical data show an unawareness of the local population of the dangers of pigmented lesions during the reference period. This unawareness can be partially explained by the fact that no specific information campaign has ever taken place in this area. These data suggest that such a campaign should be recommended.