Melanoma and pregnancy. A review

In the last half-century the incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma has increased all over the world according to available reports. No association between risk of melanoma and age at menarche, first birth, menopause or duration of reproductive period has been proven so far. Studies on the effect of parity on relative risk and survival have given divergent results with multiparous women possibly having a better prognosis than nullipara. Women with melanoma diagnosed during pregnancy tend to have thicker tumours, shorter disease-free interval and, maybe, lower 10-year survival rate than non-pregnant matched controls. There is no conclusive evidence that therapeutic abortion improves the cure rate. Multivariate analysis has failed to unveil impaired prognosis in women who become pregnant subsequent to diagnosis.