The worldwide incidence of melanoma has increased rapidly over the last 50 years.,Melanoma is the most common cancer found in the young adult population, and its incidence is very high among geriatric populations.,The incidence of melanoma varies by sex, and this factor is also associated with differences in the anatomical site melanoma.,Adolescent and young adult women have a higher incidence than men.,This may be, in part, due to the greater use of sunbeds, as well as intentional sun exposure among girls and, in general, risky behaviours in seeking to suntan, due to socially-determined aesthetic needs.,Indeed, the World Health Organization declared that there is sufficient evidence to classify exposure to ultraviolet radiation (sunbed use and sun exposure) as carcinogenic to humans.,Although pigmentation characteristics, such as skin colour, hair and eye colour, freckles and number of common and atypical naevi, do influence susceptibility to melanoma, recommendations regarding prevention should be directed to the entire population and should include avoiding sunbed, covering sun-exposed skin, wearing a hat and sunglasses.,Sunscreen use should not be used to prolong intentional sun exposure.,Primary prevention should be focused mainly on young adult women, while secondary prevention should be focused mainly on elderly men.,In fact, after the age of 40 years, incidence rates reverse, and the incidence of melanoma among men is greater than among women.,This is probably due to the fact that men are less likely than women to examine their own skin or present to a dermatologist for skin examination.
Melanoma is a malignant neoplasia that shows high mortality when diagnosed in advanced stages.,Early identification of high-risk patients for the development of melanoma metastases is the main strategy to reduce mortality.,To assess the influence of eight epidemiological and histopathologic features on the development of metastases in patients diagnosed with primary cutaneous melanoma.,Our historical cohort comprised patients with invasive primary cutaneous melanoma seen between 1995 and 2012 at a public university hospital and a private oncologic surgery institution in Southeastern Brazil.,The following variables were analyzed: gender, age, family history of melanoma, site of the primary tumor, clinical and histologic subtype, Breslow thickness, histologic ulceration and the mitotic index.,Kaplan-Meier univariate test and multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis were used to assess factors associated with disease-free survival.,Five hundred and fourteen patients were enrolled.,The univariate analysis identified the following significant risk factors: gender, age, site of the tumor, clinical and histologic subtype, Breslow thickness, histologic ulceration and mitotic index.,Multivariate analysis included 244 patients and detected four significant prognostic factors: male gender, nodular clinical and histologic subtype, Breslow thickness > 4mm, and histologic ulceration.,The mitotic index was not included in this analysis.,Small number of patients in multivariate analysis.,The following prognostic factors to the development of melanoma metastasis were identified in the study: male gender, nodular histologic subtype, Breslow thickness > 4mm and ulceration.