Journal of Clinical & Experimental Dermatology Research
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9554
+44 1478 350008
ISSN: 2155-9554
+44 1478 350008
Alvin Lim and George Varigos
Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Clin Exp Dermatol Res
Background & Aims: Cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) is the most lethal skin cancer. Sunlight is a major risk factor; however, its interaction with melanoma is complex. In particular, vitamin D is a UVB-derived hormone which has been shown to have anti-cancer effects. We investigated the association between clinicopathological features of CMM and patient vitamin D status. Methods: 109 primary melanomas diagnosed during 2001-2013 were identified from our institutional database with a corresponding 25-hydroxyvitamin D (vitamin D) result within 6 months of diagnosis. Tumor clinical (age, sex, tumor location) and pathological (thickness, mitosis, ulceration, Clark level, subtype, metastatic status) parameters were correlated with vitamin D level. Results: Vitamin D was inversely associated with Breslow thickness as a dichotomous (ΓΆΒ?Β¤1 mm vs. >1 mm, 66.96 vs. 57.60 nmol/L; P=0.045), categorical (<0.75 mm, 67.19 nmol/L; 0.75-1 mm, 65.43 nmol/L; 1-2 mm, 62.81 nmol/L; 2-3 mm, 43.08 nmol/L; P=0.044) and continuous variable (Spearman rho=-0.210; P=0.028). Increasing Breslow thickness correlated with lower vitamin D level, controlled for patient age and gender (P=0.026). Vitamin D was higher in non-ulcerated tumors compared with ulcerated tumors (64.57 vs. 47.27 nmol/L; P=0.006) and in tumors with mitotic rate <1/mm2 compared with tumors ΓΆΒ?Β¥1/ mm2 (68.81 vs. 57.74 nmol/L, P=0.036). A significant association was found between vitamin D and tumor histological subtype (P=.019). On Least Significant Difference testing between subgroups, significant associations were found between SSM and NM (67.42 vs. 51.40 nmol/L; P=0.026) and SSM and ALM (67.42 vs. 43.56 nmol/L; P=0.007). Conclusion: Higher vitamin D status may benefit prognosis in patients presenting with CMM. Larger prospective studies are needed in which vitamin D level is measured at time of diagnosis and controlled for patient phenotype and independent risk factors for CMM in order to validate our findings. Vitamin D supplementation may be a safe, novel therapy to improve melanoma prognosis, in addition to other health benefits.
Alvin Lim is currently a Junior House Officer at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. He was graduated from the Melbourne Medical School in 2014, completing a scholarly selective at the Department of Dermatology, Royal Melbourne Hospital. His current interests are in skin cancer and dermatological surgery.
Email: alvinlimdr@gmail.com