Factors of unfavorable prognosis in stage I skin melanoma

Skin melanoma is one of the most malignant tumors and is responsible for 70.3% of deaths in the group of skin cancers in the Russian Federation. Skin melanoma is characterized by a steady increase in the incidence among the working-age population, both in Russia and abroad (annual increase in incidence is about 3–4%). At the moment, for stages I-II of skin melanoma, practitioners have been using only clinical (clinical form of melanoma, localization, gender, age, etc.) and standard pathomorphological prognostic factors for many years. For thin skin melanoma, the presence of ulceration, Breslow thickness, mitotic index, lymphovascular invasion, and presence of regression are the most significant prognostic biomarkers. The most informative predictors are needed to improve the stratification of patient prognosis. For a more accurate and individual prognosis, regular integration of already known clinical and morphological factors of the tumor with other prognostic characteristics, such as, for example, lymphovascular invasion, as well as with molecular genetic parameters, is necessary. A more accurate assessment of the risk of progression of "thin" melanoma of the skin stages IA-IB may in the future help the choice, application of new treatment approaches, as well as the frequency and volume of follow-up examinations by an oncologist.

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