Melanoma in children, adolescents and young adults: anatomo-clinical features and prognostic study on 426 cases

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the difference in anatomo-pathological and prognostic features of cutaneous melanoma in children, adolescents and young adults. Methods: This is a retrospective review on 383 young patients ≤ 39 years of age with cutaneous melanoma, in a period from 2006 to 2016 in Area Vasta Nord Ovest, Tuscany, Italy. We subdivided patients in three groups (children ≤ 14 years, adolescents 15–21 years, young adults 22–39 years). We correlated all the anatomo-pathological parameters with age groups. Results: We identified a total of 426 cases of cutaneous melanoma on an overall total of 383 patients. Mean age at diagnosis for all the patients ≤ 39 years of age was 31.2 years: in group A was 11.2 years, in group B 19.2 years and in group C 32.5 years. Incidence, in the subjects between 0 and 14 years, is 14 cases per million inhabitants, between 15 and 21 years of 145, and between 22 and 39 years of 394. Global incidence was 1.6 case per million for group A, 8.9 cases per million for group B, 105 cases per million for group C. No statistically significative correlation could be described for clinical parameters and age groups. Conclusions: Incidence of melanoma in our casuistry results as the highest in the world. These data open new study for this kind of cancer.