Cutaneous melanoma: a prospective study of 42 cases.

A prospective longitudinal study of 42 cases of cutaneous melanoma showed that: 71.2% of patients were between 50 and 79 years of age; 45.1% were male and 54.7% female; most patients (88%) were white; most lesions (54.7%) were located on the trunk (p = 0.039); the most common clinical and histological pattern was the superficial spreading melanoma (52.3% / 26.1%) (p = 0.02); 16 cases (38.1%) were classified as stage IA and 9 cases (21.4%) consisted of melanomas in situ.