Clinical characteristics of 120 consecutively enrolled melanoma patients and comparison between the two subgroups of 52 MetM and 68 NMetM patients
| Characteristics | All melanoma patients (n=120) | MetM (n=52) | NMetM (n=68) | OR (CI) (MetM vs. NMetM) | P (MetM vs. NMetM) |
| Age, years, n (%) | |||||
| <40 | 9 (7.5) | 3 (5.8) | 6 (8.8) | 0.63 (0.15–2.66) | 0.730 |
| ≥ 60 | 60 (50.0) | 27 (51.9) | 33 (48.5) | 1.14 (0.56–2.36) | 0.713 |
| Age at melanoma diagnosis (years, mean±SD) | 53.1±13.26 | 53.9±13.01 | 52.5±13.51 | – | 0.569a |
| Time from melanoma diagnosis (years, mean±SD) | 6.5±3.58 | 6.3±4.13 | 6.6±3.08 | – | 0.344a |
| Stage, n (%) | |||||
| I | 48 (40.0) | 0 (–) | 48 (70.6) | –b | –b |
| II | 20 (16.7) | 0 (–) | 20 (29.4) | –b | –b |
| III | 34 (28.3) | 34 (65.4) | 0 (–) | –b | –b |
| IV | 18 (15.0) | 18 (34.6) | 0 (–) | –b | –b |
| Trunk, n (%) | 68 (56.7) | 22 (42.3) | 46 (67.6) | 0.35 (0.17–0.74) | 0.006 |
| Upper limb, n (%) | 8 (6.7) | 2 (3.8) | 6 (8.8) | 0.41 (0.08–2.14) | 0.463 |
| Lower limb, n (%) | 26 (21.7) | 15 (28.8) | 11 (16.2) | 2.10 (0.87–5.07) | 0.095^ |
| Hands/feet, n (%) | 8 (6.7) | 6 (11.5) | 2 (2.9) | 4.30 (0.83–22.3) | 0.076^ |
| Head/neck, n (%) | 10 (8.3) | 7 (13.5) | 3 (4.4) | 3.37 (0.83–13.7) | 0.099^ |
| Superficial spreading, n (%) | 56 (46.7) | 16 (30.8) | 40 (58.8) | 0.31 (0.14–0.67) | 0.002 |
| Nodular, n (%) | 47 (39.2) | 25 (48.1) | 22 (32.4) | 1.94 (0.92–4.07) | 0.080^ |
| Acral lentiginous, n (%) | 5 (4.2) | 4 (7.7) | 1 (1.5) | 5.58 (0.60–51.5) | 0.165 |
| Lentigo maligna, n (%) | 2 (1.7) | 1 (1.9) | 1 (1.5) | 1.31 (0.08–21.5) | 1.000 |
| Spitzoide, n (%) | 5 (4.2) | 2 (3.8) | 3 (4.4) | 0.87 (0.14–5.38) | 1.000 |
| Others, n (%) | 8 (6.7) | 6 (11.5) | 2 (2.9) | 4.30 (0.83–22.3) | 0.076^ |
| Breslow thickness (mm, mean±SD) | 2.0±1.66 | 2.8±1.74 | 1.4±1.34 | – | <0.001a |
| Breslow thickness ≤0.75 mm, n (%) | 28 (23.3) | 2 (3.8) | 26 (38.2) | 0.06 (0.01–0.29) | <0.001 |
| Breslow thickness ≥4.01 mm, n (%) | 14 (11.7) | 12 (23.1) | 2 (2.9) | 9.90 (2.11–46.5) | 0.001 |
| Clark II, n (%) | 29 (24.2) | 4 (7.7) | 25 (36.8) | 0.14 (0.05–0.44) | <0.001 |
| Clark III, n (%) | 20 (16.7) | 4 (7.7) | 16 (23.5) | 0.27 (0.08–0.87) | 0.021 |
| Clark IV, n (%) | 64 (53.3) | 38 (73.1) | 26 (38.2) | 4.38 (2.00–9.60) | <0.001 |
| Clark V, n (%) | 5 (4.2) | 4 (7.7) | 1 (1.5) | 5.58 (0.60–51.5) | 0.165 |
| Ulceration, n (%) | 48 (40.0) | 30 (57.7) | 18 (26.5) | 3.79 (1.75–8.18) | 0.001 |
| Mitosis >1, n (%) | 81 (67.5) | 43 (82.7) | 38 (55.9) | 3.77 (1.59–8.94) | 0.002 |
| Regression, n (%) | 16 (13.3) | 4 (7.7) | 12 (17.6) | 0.39 (0.12–1.28) | 0.112 |
| Brisk positive TILsc, n (%) | 37 (30.8) | 12 (23.1) | 25 (36.8) | 0.52 (0.23–1.16) | 0.108 |
| Non-brisk TILsc, n (%) | 41 (34.2) | 16 (30.8) | 25 (36.8) | 0.76 (0.35–1.65) | 0.493 |
| TILscabsence, n (%) | 41 (34.2) | 23 (44.2) | 18 (26.5) | 2.20 (1.02–4.75) | 0.042 |
| Microsatellitosis, n(%) | 4 (3.3) | 3 (5.8) | 1 (1.5) | 4.10 (0.41–40.6) | 0.315 |
| Epithelioid variant, n(%) | 30 (25.0) | 19 (36.5) | 11 (16.2) | 2.98 (1.27–7.03) | 0.011 |
| Fusate variant, n(%) | 12 (10.0) | 7 (13.5) | 5 (7.4) | 1.96 (0.58–6.57) | 0.269 |
| Small cell variant, n(%) | 2 (1.7) | 0 (–) | 2 (2.9) | –b | –b |
| More than 1 melanoma, n(%) | 18 (15.0) | 9 (17.3) | 9 (13.2) | 1.37 (0.50–3.74) | 0.536 |
| Additional non-melanoma skin cancer, n(%) | 18 (15.0) | 7 (13.5) | 11 (16.2) | 0.81 (0.29–2.25) | 0.680 |
| Additional non-skin cancer, n(%) | 23 (19.2) | 11 (21.2) | 12 (17.6) | 1.25 (0.50–3.12) | 0.629 |
| Melanoma familiarity | 17 (14.2) | 7 (13.5) | 10 (14.7) | 0.90 (0.32–2.57) | 0.846 |
aTwo-tailed Mann-Whitney U-test.bOR uncountable because one or two of the compared groups had zero subject. cTILs, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. Significant differences were indicated in bold, tendencies were evidenced with superscript ^.