Clinicopathologic Features and Prognosis of Melanoma in Northeast China: A Region-Based Cohort Study of 229 Consecutive Cases

Melanoma has been reported in many parts of East Asia. However, there are no reports on the epidemiology of melanoma in Northeast China. In this study, we collected demographic, clinicopathologic, and treatment data of patients with melanoma treated at the First Hospital of Jilin University (Changchun, China). A total of 229 consecutive nonselective cases were analyzed for the incidence and clinicopathologic characteristics of melanoma. The median overall survival was 53.5 months. The 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival rates were 86.3, 66.4, and 44.8%, respectively. The median disease-free survival was 33.1 months, and the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year disease-free survival rates were 75.0, 48.5, and 35.8%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that disease stage, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score, and lactic dehydrogenase were independent prognostic factors of overall survival. Pathologic subtype and stage were independent prognostic factors of disease-free survival. Furthermore, vascular invasion was a prognostic factor for overall survival in acral melanoma and a prognostic factor for disease-free survival in cutaneous melanoma. Compared with the Caucasian population, the population of Northeast China showed significant differences in disease location, pathologic subtype, gene status, and survival prognosis. In summary, our study showed that vascular invasion might be a prognostic factor in patients with acral and cutaneous melanoma.