Malignant melanoma in Auckland, New Zealand

A retrospective study of 972 patients diagnosed as having cutaneous malignant melanoma in the Auckland area from 1970 to 1985 is presented. The incidence of malignant melanoma in New Zealand is similar to that in Scandinavia, being higher than in the United Kingdom and lower than that in Queensland, Australia. The general trends in terms of anatomic predilection, and sex differences in terms of survival time, are similar in patients living in New Zealand to what has been reported from other countries. The over-all five year survival time of patients with malignant melanoma in New Zealand is within the five year spectrum reported from other countries. Major factors governing survival time in patients in New Zealand are the level of invasion, ulceration of the primary lesion, the presence of local recurrence and, in men, nodular histologic factors and the presence of a primary lesion on either the trunk or the head and neck region. Factors important in governing the incidence of local recurrence are the level of invasion, the presence of satellites, a primary lesion located in the head and neck region and inadequate resection margins in the head and neck region. There is no obvious adverse effect of pregnancy upon the outcome of women with malignant melanoma. Malignant melanoma in patients living in Maori and Polynesia is rare, but clinically, pathologically and prognostically, it is similar to that found in Caucasians.