Journal of Clinical & Experimental Pathology
Open Access

Abstract

Melanoma accounts for 4% of all skin malignancies and 75% of all skin cancer deaths. Currently the 8th most common malignancy in the United States, the incidence of melanoma has rapidly increased. Treatment of melanoma on the lower extremity includes wide local excision and possible use of sentinel node biopsy evaluation. The aim of this article is to describe the new AJCC?s new staging system for skin melanoma and present demographic, prognostic, and treatment data. A 10-year retrospective review was conducted based on charts from a single surgeon practicing in a private plastic surgery office in a middle class suburb of a large city. Charts were parsed for age at diagnosis, gender, location, Breslow depth, Clark?s level, and the presence of ulceration, regression, and nodularity. We present a series of 35 patients and their interesting demographic data. The lower leg was the most common site of involvement, and more than half of all lesions had a Breslow depth less than 0.5 mm. One patient died of her disease in her 90s and another refused treatment. Melanoma of the lower extremity has had an evolution in both the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

Biography

Carl H. Manstein received his MD from Temple University in 1976 and his MBA from LaSalle University in 1998. He is the former President of the Robert H. IVY Society of Plastic Surgeons. Omar E. Beidas completed his MD from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. He is currently a first-year plastic surgery resident at the University of Oklahoma with an expected graduation date of June, 2017. Mark E. Manstein graduated with his MD in 1978 from Medical College of Pennsylvania. He is currently Chief of Plastic Surgery at Holy Redeemer Medical Center in Meadowbrook, PA.