Nair M K, Varghese C, Mahadevan S, Cherian T, Joseph F
Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum.
J Indian Med Assoc. 1998 Jan;96(1):19-20, 28.
Melanoma of the skin is rare in the Asian population. However, this malignancy results in a high mortality due to the inadequacies in the referral pattern and management. India is one of the low incidence regions of the world. Cancer registries in India report that the age specific incidence rates for cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) are less than 0.5 per 1,000,000. There are only few reports in the literature on CMM in the Asian population. The Regional Cancer Centre at Trivandrum registers about 6000 new cancer cases per year and CMM forms 0.5% of them. This paper presents the clinical epidemiology and survival of 79 cases of CMM registered in the hospital cancer registry during the period 1985-90. The peak age frequency was in the 7th decade. The male:female ratio was 1.6:1. All cases had undergone a surgical manipulation in a peripheral centre, before being referred to this centre. This has posed limitation in staging and in deciding the extends of surgical excision. The overall 5-year survival rate was 25.2% (95% confidence intervals, or, CI, 14%-38%). CMM in the low incidence regions may have a different aetiology and needs to be addressed in epidemiological studies.
皮肤黑色素瘤在亚洲人群中较为罕见。然而，由于转诊模式和治疗方面的不足，这种恶性肿瘤导致了较高的死亡率。印度是世界上发病率较低的地区之一。印度的癌症登记处报告称，皮肤恶性黑色素瘤（CMM）的年龄别发病率低于每100万人口0.5例。关于亚洲人群中CMM的文献报道很少。特里凡得琅的地区癌症中心每年登记约6000例新癌症病例，其中CMM占0.5%。本文介绍了1985 - 1990年期间在该医院癌症登记处登记的79例CMM的临床流行病学和生存率情况。发病年龄高峰在70岁左右。男女比例为1.6:1。所有病例在转诊至本中心之前，都在外围中心接受过手术治疗。这给分期和确定手术切除范围带来了限制。总体5年生存率为25.2%（95%置信区间，即CI，14% - 38%）。低发病率地区的CMM可能有不同的病因，需要在流行病学研究中加以探讨。
