Malignant melanoma. Analysis of an autopsy population.

This report analyzes 92 malignant melanoma cases from a series of 12,383 consecutive autopsies. There were 12 cases of primary ocular malignant melanoma, 76 cases of primary nonocular malignant melanoma, and 4 cases of unknown primary site. Subjects with malignant melanoma were characterized by age, sex, and race; metastatic disease patterns as well as survival periods were analyzed. In the 12 ocular malignant melanoma cases, tumor size, cell type, and survival were considered. Discussion is concerned with the distribution of primary tumor site, the location of metastatic lesions secondary to malignant melanoma, and survival in cases with primary ocular malignant melanoma.