Acral Lentiginous Melanoma More Common in Southeast Asian Patients Than Other Asian American & Pacific Islander Groups
Source: Dermatology Times, July 2023
A poster presentation from the 19th Annual Skin of Color Society Scientific Symposium analyzed the differences in presentation of cutaneous melanoma among Asian American and Pacific Islander patients.
There are limited studies characterizing melanoma presentations in Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) according to a poster presentation from the 19th Annual Skin of Color Society Scientific Symposium in New Orleans, Louisiana. Studies that do include AAPIs are limited by small cohort sizes and have reported AAPI as a singular racial group. Without updated data, it is not clear whether melanoma presents differently among distinct AAPI ethnic groups.
Angela Wei and colleagues sought to determine melanoma characteristics at diagnosis in AAPI populations and to compare the characteristics among APPI ethnic/regional groups. To collect their data, Wei et al analyzed all histologically confirmed cases of malignant melanoma in the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Specialized Asian American and Pacific Islander Database which includes data from 1994 to 2014. The dataset included California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, New Mexico, and Utah, and metropolitan regions of Atlanta, Detroit, and Seattle-Puget Sound.