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 classificationResults: 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 wasth 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 legand 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, Biops