Thickness and diameter in melanoma: is there a relation?
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Updated: Apr 7, 2026
A 3D Organotypic Melanoma Spheroid Skin Model
Published on: May 18, 2018
Emanuele Crocetti1, Laura Fancelli1, Adele Caldarella1
1Clinical, Descriptive and Registries Unit, Institute for Cancer Research and Prevention (ISPO), Florence - Italy.
Objective:
To evaluate the relationship between diameter and Breslow's thickness in skin melanoma.
Methods:
2,071 skin melanomas incident in the area of activity of the Tuscany Cancer Registry (central Italy) were analyzed. Pearson's linear correlation coefficient r was computed between diameter and Breslow's thickness.
Results:
There was a statistically significant, but rather small, correlation between diameter and Breslow (r = 0.39). The same was true for men and women, for older and younger patients, and for skin subsites. 22.3% of the examined skin melanomas had a diameter ≤6 mm.
Conclusions:
There was a statistically significant, but small, correlation between Breslow's thickness and diameter in skin melanomas. Moreover, a non-negligible proportion of small lesions were thick and/or nodular.
