Prognosis of level V malignant melanoma.

Level V melanomas have been reported to have a poor prognosis, but in-depth analyses of prognostic factors and treatment have not been reported. From 1952 through 1982, 41 patients presented with primary Clark's Level V melanomas. There were 23 patients who presented with clinical Stage I disease and 18 with Stage II. Among Stage I patients, 9 were treated by wide excision alone and 13 underwent wide excision plus prophylactic regional lymph node dissection (RLND); 8 of 13 patients had histologically positive nodes. Twelve Stage II patients were treated by wide excision and RLND (including three hemipelvectomies), and four refused surgery. The 5-year survival was 52%. For Stage I patients, survival was 62% and disease-free survival (DFS) 28% at 5 years; 6 of 10 recurrences were local or regional only. Prophylactic RLND reduced the incidence of recurrence but did not appear to influence survival rates. Among 14 evaluable Stage II patients, overall survival was 60% and DFS 42% at 3 years; of 4 patients who subsequently had a recurrence, 3 had distant metastases. All seven patients with distant metastases at the time of first recurrence died of disease within 14 months (median, 4 months) of detection of metastatic disease. Primary melanomas of the foot (11 patients) and trunk (4 patients) appeared to have a worse prognosis than other sites. Ulceration (seen in 21 patients) did not appear to significantly influence outcome. These data suggest that most patients with Level V melanoma present with clinically localized disease. Prophylactic RLND did not significantly affect overall survival. The invasiveness of these deep tumors appears to reduce the influence of other factors, including primary site, sex, race, and ulceration. The prognosis of patients with Level V melanoma, even with clinically or histologically positive lymph nodes, is not hopeless, and these patients should be treated aggressively.