A retrospective study of malignant melanoma from a tertiary care centre in Saudi Arabia from 2004 to 2016

Malignant melanoma is a well-known and commonly lethal tumour yet there exists scarce published information available from Saudi Arabia.

This study examined the demographic, clinical, and histopathological profile of melanoma in a sample of Saudi patients over a period of 13 years. Medical records of 98 patients from 2004 to 2016 were retrieved from the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at King Faisal Specialist Hospital (KFSH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Forty two males and fifty six females (median age of 58 years) were analysed. Most cases were diagnosed in patients aged 50 years or above. The most common sites of occurrence were the extremities, especially the feet, followed by the head and neck, and then mucosal regions. Most mucosal melanomas were located in the mouth. The most common histopathological form was nodular melanoma (38 cases) followed by acral lentiginous melanoma (27 cases). Most of the cases were diagnosed in late diagnostic stages III and IV (59 cases) and most had higher Clark's level and stage V Breslow thickness. The cases with preceding history of xeroderma pigmentosum and dysplastic nevi tended to be diagnosed earlier. The most common mode of treatment was surgical resection. Patients on palliative treatment were older. Only 27/40 patients were confirmed to be alive and the rest were lost to follow-up.

Our data contrast with previously published studies from other parts of the world. Further work is needed to confirm our findings of female preponderance, common histological subtypes of nodular and acral melanomas, and the high involvement of oral mucosa in our Saudi patients.