RESEARCH ARTICLE Clinicopathologic Predictors of Survival in Patients with

Background and Objectives Desmoplastic melanoma is a unique subtype of melanoma which typically affects older pa-tients who often have comorbidities that can adversely affect survival. We sought to identify melanoma-specific factors influencing survival in patients with desmoplastic melanoma. Methods Retrospective review from 1993 to 2011 identified 316 patients with primary desmoplastic melanoma. Clinicopathologic characteristics were correlated with nodal status and outcome. Results Fifty-five patients (17.4%) had nodal disease: 33 had a positive sentinel lymph node biopsy and 22 developed nodal recurrences (no sentinel lymph node biopsy or false-negative sen-tinel lymph node biopsy). Nodal disease occurred more often in younger patients and in cases with mixed compared with pure histology (26.7 % vs. 14.6%); both of these variables significantly predicted nodal status on multivariable analysis (p<0.05). After a median fol