This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal

Arch Facial Plast Surg. 2007;9(3):219.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Archives of Dermatology

Rate of Growth in Melanomas: Characteristics and Associations of Rapidly Growing Melanomas

Objectives: To investigate the spectrum of growth rates in melanomas and to identify clinical associations of rapidly growing melanomas.

Design: Clinical interview, skin examination, and pathology review.

Setting: Three tertiary melanoma referral centers and 2 private dermatology practices.

Patients: A total of 404 consecutive patients with invasive primary cutaneous melanomas.

Main Outcome Measure: A surrogate for rate of growth in primary invasive melanoma was calculated as the ratio of Breslow thickness to time to melanoma development based on a previously reported assessment tool.

Results: One third of the melanomas grew 0.5 mm per month or more. The median monthly growth rate was 0.12 mm for superficial spreading melanomas, 0.13 mm for lentigo maligna melanomas, and 0.49 mm for nodular melanomas. Rapid tumor growth was associated with tumor thickness (1 mm, geometric mean ratio [GMR] = 1.0; 1.01-4 mm, GMR = 3.9; . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Archives of Surgery