[Course and therapy of malignant melanoma]

The 3-, 5- and 10-year survival rates in 353 well documented cases of malignant melanoma in stages I, II and III are discussed in relation to condition of the patient when the disease was diagnosed, methods of treatment and the histological classes of CLARK and MIHM. The different forms of therapy (X-ray followed by excision, excision followed by X-ray, X-ray alone, excision alone) produce similar recovery rates. Significant differences observable are due to variations in the patients' condition (differences in the malignancy index). Histological classification confirms the benign nature of lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM) and superficial spreading melanoma (SSM) in comparison with nodular melanoma (NM).