The prognosis for melanoma

The prognosis for malignant melanoma depends on its stage, metastasis and numerous other factors. These include: In addition, the individual subtypes of melanoma have different chances of cure. For example, lentigo-maligna melanoma (LMM) has a better prognosis than amelanotic melanoma (AMM).

In addition, tumor localization and gender are factors for the prognosis. Men generally have a worse prognosis than women. Overall, amelanotic melanoma has a very poor prognosis, which is independent of gender and localization.

In contrast, the darkness of the melanoma usually has no influence on the prognosis. In general, the chances of cure are very good with an early diagnosis, especially if it is an “in-situ melanoma”. This has not yet crossed the basement membrane (the boundary between the epidermis and the dermis), but is already recognizable as potentially dangerous.

Therefore it is important to have a regular skin cancer screening.

Tumor thickness (classified according to Breslow)
The ulceration of the tumor and
The penetration depth (after the Clark level)

The reason for the good prognosis is that in this case no metastasis has yet occurred. The classification of the prognosis by tumor stage is based on the 5-year survival rate.

This indicates the proportion of patients who were still alive 5 years after diagnosis. Especially metastases in the liver or brain have a particularly unfavorable effect on the prognosis. In contrast, pulmonary metastases often grow very slowly and are therefore easier to treat.

Especially malignant tumors of the heart are very rare and are found in 40-60% of cases as a metastasis of a malignant melanoma. In principle, only the early, complete removal of the melanoma can lead to healing. Waiting, however, significantly worsens the prognosis.

Note: For this reason, regular check-ups and early detection measures are very important.

In stage I the chance of recovery is >90%. The primary tumor is a maximum of 1.5mm thick and has a Clark level of < III.
In stage II the primary tumor is >1.5mm thick and has a Clark level of > IV.
In this stage the 5-year survival rate is 70%.
In stage III, the tumor has already metastasized to the nearest lymph nodes or formed new skin metastases. Tumor thickness and clark level are irrelevant. The 5-year survival rate is 40%.
If the tumor has spread to more distant organs, stage IV and a survival probability of 10% are present. The metastatic pathways in malignant melanoma are very different and can therefore occur in all organs. However, metastases are often found in the liver, skin, lungs, skeleton, heart or brain.