OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To determine if sex independently affects disease-specific survival (DSS) in patients with cutaneous head and neck melanoma. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of a large population database. METHODS: Our study included patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database with cutaneous head and neck melanoma diagnosed from 2004 to 2009. Any cases with a history of previous malignancy or with multiple primaries were excluded. We obtained data on stage, race, age at diagnosis, radiological treatment status, and surgical treatment status. Our analysis consisted of a Kaplan-Meier analysis of DSS by sex [correction made here after initial online publication] that was supported by a multivariate Cox regression of all significant variables studied. RESULTS: There were 13,507 patients identified with cutaneous head and neck melanoma who were diagnosed between 2004 and 2009. We observed that female patients had a better prognosis than their male counterparts, with 5-year DSS of 90.40% (95% confidence interval [CI], 89.03%-91.72%) and 87.10% (95% CI, 86.12%-88.08%), respectively. Multivariable analysis demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in disease-specific hazard ratio due to female sex independent of stage, treatment, age, or race. CONCLUSIONS: Our study concludes that female sex is an independent prognostic factor for cutaneous head and neck melanoma. We demonstrated better 5-year DSS in female compared to male patients. Better prognosis could be due to multiple factors including differing hair, levels of sun exposure, and advanced male age. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2b.
OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To determine if sex independently affects disease-specific survival (DSS) in patients with cutaneous head and neck melanoma. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of a large population database. METHODS: Our study included patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database with cutaneous head and neck melanoma diagnosed from 2004 to 2009. Any cases with a history of previous malignancy or with multiple primaries were excluded. We obtained data on stage, race, age at diagnosis, radiological treatment status, and surgical treatment status. Our analysis consisted of a Kaplan-Meier analysis of DSS by sex [correction made here after initial online publication] that was supported by a multivariate Cox regression of all significant variables studied. RESULTS: There were 13,507 patients identified with cutaneous head and neck melanoma who were diagnosed between 2004 and 2009. We observed that female patients had a better prognosis than their male counterparts, with 5-year DSS of 90.40% (95% confidence interval [CI], 89.03%-91.72%) and 87.10% (95% CI, 86.12%-88.08%), respectively. Multivariable analysis demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in disease-specific hazard ratio due to female sex independent of stage, treatment, age, or race. CONCLUSIONS: Our study concludes that female sex is an independent prognostic factor for cutaneous head and neck melanoma. We demonstrated better 5-year DSS in female compared to male patients. Better prognosis could be due to multiple factors including differing hair, levels of sun exposure, and advanced male age. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2b.
Authors: Gang Che; Bingjiang Huang; Zhinan Xie; Jingjing Zhao; Yan Yan; Jinna Wu; Huanhuan Sun; Haiqing Ma Journal: Am J Cancer Res Date: 2019-07-01 Impact factor: 6.166
Authors: Elizabeth Ann L Enninga; Justin C Moser; Amy L Weaver; Svetomir N Markovic; Jerry D Brewer; Alexey A Leontovich; Tina J Hieken; Lynne Shuster; Lisa A Kottschade; Ariadna Olariu; Aaron S Mansfield; Roxana S Dronca Journal: Cancer Med Date: 2017-09-06 Impact factor: 4.452