Age at Diagnosis Impacts Timing and Extent of Melanoma Metastases
Source: Modern Medicine Network, June 2019
Elderly patients diagnosed with melanoma appear to experience less extensive metastatic disease than adults diagnosed at younger ages, despite shorter distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) times, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
“The number of metastatic sites decreased with increasing age at melanoma diagnosis” [P < .001], the authors reported. “Distant metastases occurred earlier and more synchronized in patients older than 70 years than in patients aged 50 years or younger…Pattern, timing and extent of distant metastasis change as people age.”
Women had lower numbers of metastatic sites than men, the authors also reported.