Malignant melanoma of the skin in Lagos. Experience in an urban African community
Ogunbiyi, T.A.; Adedeji, S.A.
Materia Medica Polona. Polish Journal of Medicine and Pharmacy 10(2): 146-149
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-5246 PMID: 703390 Document Number: 129206
Twenty-five cases of malignant melanoma admitted over a 13 yr period from 1963-1975 were reviewed. Malignant melanoma constituted 1.1% of all malignant tumors treated during the period. Sixty-four percent of tumors occurred in the sole of the foot. Clinical staging of tumors revealed 48% of tumors in stage 1, 48% in stage 2 and 4% in stage 3. Some of the tumors in stage 1 attained large sizes with no lymph node involvement. The rarity of malignant melanoma of the skin in Negroes and the relationship of trauma to the large number of cases occurring in the sole of the foot was discussed. A crude 2 yr survival rate figure of 60% was obtained after treatment by surgery and sometimes with adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The difficulty of obtaining 5 yr follow up figures in an urban African population is highlighted.