Tumor volume: an adjunct prognostic factor in cutaneous melanoma

Measurement of tumor volume may be a helpful adjunct to established prognostic factors in cutaneous melanoma, including Breslow depth, presence or absence of ulceration, mitotic index, lymphovascular invasion, and microsatellites. This report expands on the theory that a tumor volume cutoff point of 250 mm³ as measured by surface area of the lesion (ie, longest vertical and horizontal measurements either based on clinical or gross pathological assessment) multiplied by the Breslow depth could serve as a potentially relevant predictor of sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis in both thin and thick invasive cutaneous melanomas, which prompted investigation of a larger sample size using the pathology database at our institution.