Cutaneous melanoma in the capital of the Amazon: profile of cases treated at a university dermatology outpatient clinic

Introduction: Melanoma is a type of cancer derived from melanocytic cells, the most aggressive and lethal among skin cancers. The research’s purpose was to characterize the epidemiological profile of patients diagnosed with melanoma at the Dermatology Service of the Federal University of Pará. Methods: An observational, cross-sectional and retrospective analytical study was carried out, based on information from medical records and histopathological reports of patients with confirmed diagnoses by biopsy between January 2010 and December 2019. Results: 33 lesions of 32 patients were studied. North’s region peculiarity was observed on the greater impairment of phototypes III, IV and V. Extensive superficial was the most frequent clinical type, as well as the region of the lower limbs, lesion diameter greater than 1 cm, Breslow stage V and vertical growth phase were the most prevalent. Discussion: A higher Breslow score was positively correlated with older age, nodular melanoma subtype, and vertical growth phase. A greater skin phototype was related to a greater diameter and location of the lesion on the lower limb. The clinical type of lesion had positive correlations with age group, site of lesion and phase of growth. Conclusion: Notably, the number of studies published on the disease in the region is not very expressive, probably due to the lower frequency of melanoma cases in the North region, which demonstrates the need for more studies on the subject in this region.