Melanoma transection has no impact on survival

Houston - Melanoma transection does not affect a patient’s overall disease-free survival or mortality, and punch and saucerization biopsies may be more likely to transect tumors than excisional biopsies, according to a recent study.

Researchers with Baylor College of Medicine retrospectively reviewed 479 cases of melanoma, matching these with non-transected tumors to evaluate survival, HealthDay News reports.

The melanoma transection rate for excisional biopsies was 1.5 percent, 4.1 percent for punch biopsies and 9.0 percent for saucerization biopsies. Mean disease-free survival was 911 days in the control group and 832.7 days in the transected group. Overall survival in the control group was 1,073.7 days compared to 1,012.4 days in the transected group.

Although the sample size of transected biopsies was limited, the authors concluded, “Punch and saucerization biopsies were more likely to transect tumors than excisional biopsies. The transection of melanoma did not affect overall disease-free survival or mortality in the population studied.”

The study was published online Sept. 10 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

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