Female sex is a risk factor for satellite and in-transit recurrences from cutaneous melanoma

The presence of satellite and in-transit (SIT) metastases was investigated in 388 patients with cutaneous melanoma of the extremities, registered between 1956 and 1980. Out of 99 males 20 showed evidence of SIT lesions at the time of diagnosis or during follow-up, compared with 78 out of 289 females (P less than 0.05, allowed for clinical stage). The difference is even more striking if we consider that female patients had more favourable prognostic tumour characteristics than males.