[Prognostic histopathological features of malignant melanoma. New statistical approaches (author's transl)]

The records of 203 patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma treated at the Centre René Huguenin, Saint-Cloud, from october, 1959 to december, 1978 were reviewed. Histological data from 155 patients were retained after re-examination. The melanomas, which had previously been classified according to Clark's system of histological type and degree of invasiveness, were re-evaluated according to the thickness, were re-evaluated according to the thickness of the tumour as measured by Breslow's ocular micrometric method. Other histological data, as well as clinical and therapeutic data, were gathered together. One hundred and fifty cases were found to be suitable for standard single and multifactorial analysis, and 96 records contained sufficient information to be analyzed by the new "similarly aggregation" method developed by IBM. Two significant results emerged from the study: the thickness of the tumor is the single most important prognostic factor, as it correlates with the incidence of recurrences, metastases and deaths; by using a small number of clinical and histological variables, it seems possible to draw a profile of every new patient, to classify him in a well-determined prognostic category and, consequently, to institute a complementary treatment when needed.