Lentigo Maligna of the head and neck: A retrospective study assessing surgical excision margins in a South African population.

BACKGROUND

Lentigo maligna (LM) is a subtype of melanoma in situ that occurs on sun-damaged skin and is associated with significant subclinical extension beyond the clinical margins of the lesion.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to determine if the standard recommended tumor excision margins for LM are adequate to achieve a 97% clearance rate and if any patient or tumor characteristics warranted wider margins.

METHODS

This study is a retrospective chart review of all patients who were diagnosed with LM of the head and neck and treated with staged excision.

RESULTS

The study included 64 patients. With a 6 mm surgical excision margin, only 60.9% of LM were completely excised. A 9 mm margin resulted in complete clearance of 71.9% of LM cases, and a 12 mm margin resulted in complete clearance in 90.6%. A surgical excision margin of 18 mm would have been required to excise 96.7% of tumors completely. Recurrent tumors ( = .01) and tumor size larger than 20 mm were associated with wider surgical excision margins ( = .154).

CONCLUSION

This study of LM in a South African population corroborates that the standard surgical excision margins recommended by international melanoma guidelines for LM are inadequate to achieve a 97% clearance rate.