Morphological Patterns Of Malignant Melanoma In Benin-City, South-South, Nigeria

Abstract

Context: Malignant melanoma ranked among the top 10 most common malignancies in developed countries. It remains a major skin cancer with considerable geographical, racial and ethnical variation worldwide.
Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency and morphological patterns and variants of malignant melanoma in University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, Nigeria.
Materials and Methods: Data of surgical biopsies from the skin received at the department of Histopathology, over a twenty-five year period (January 1982 to December 2007) were reviewed. The sources of information were surgical pathology day books, duplicates of histology cards and reports. Information derived includes socio-demographic data on age, sex, hospital numbers, clinical features and diagnosis. Corresponding slides were retrieved for histopathology examination. Skin cancers were categorized using the W.H.O classification
Results: One hundred and eight seven malignant skin biopsies were seen in the Department during the period. Of these, malignant melanoma was the most common and accounted for (32.6%). The peak age incidence was
th seen in the 5 decade with a male to female ratio of 1:1. The mean age for malignant melanoma was 52.4 ±2.2SD with an age range of 25-79 years. Of the 61 cases, majority accounting for 90.2% occurred in the leg
and foot region. Nodular melanoma constituted first majority variant accounting for 36.3%. Malignant melanoma in advanced stages IV and V was the most common constituting 81%.
Conclusion: The exact incidence of malignant melanoma in most African countries including Nigeria is unknown because most cases of malignant melanoma are unreported.

Keywords: Malignant melanoma, Histopathology, Biopsy