Although invasive cutaneous melanoma is primarily a malignancy of adulthood, the heightened relative risk of second primary melanomas in the pediatric population calls for careful long-term scrutiny in this latter population following an index melanoma diagnosis. A total of 208,289 patients were diagnosed with invasive melanoma in the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database from 1973 to 2008 with subsequent primary melanomas diagnosed in 3.3% (6888). The incidence of second primary melanomas increased with increasing age of diagnosis of the patient’s first melanoma. However, the relative risk of developing a subsequent melanoma was nearly double for patients diagnosed with their first melanoma at the age of 19 years and younger compared to patients greater than the age of 19 years. Compared to a patient’s initial invasive melanoma, 44% of the subjects had a different melanoma subtype with their subsequent melanoma. Second primary melanomas were located in a different anatomic site from the index malignancy in 55% of patients. Nodular melanomas were more common as index melanomas versus being a second primary melanoma.
Read more in :Jung GW, Weinstock WA. Clinicopathologic comparisons of index and second primary melanomas in pediatric and adult populations. British Journal of Dermatology. Clinicopathologic comparisons of index and second primary melanomas in pediatric and adult populations
