The Queensland melanoma project.

The fate of over 1,500 patients treated for malignant melanoma in Queensland, Australia, between 1963 and 1969 has been followed by the Queensland Melanoma Project (QMP). Aspects which have been studied and reported include yearly incidence (16 per 100,000), sex incidence (females 55%, males 45%), size of melanomas (73% less than 2.0 cm), prognosis related to sex, site and histological features, multiple primary cutaneous melanomas (more than 1 in 4.8% of patients), hereditary and immunological aspects and value of frozen section diagnosis in management. Continued education of the public and medical practitioners is essential to insure early diagnosis and appropriate management of patients with melanoma.

Multiple primary cutaneous melanomas.

Of 1,444 patients with primary cutaneous melanomas, 57 (3.9%) developed more than one. Most had two primary lesions but one had six. Every effort was made to insure that all melanomas were primary tumors. Most patients developed new primary melanonas within five years of the original operation, but an appreciable number developed them many years later. In the largest group, second and subsequent primary tumors developed in different areas of the body at later times. The subsequent tumors were not diagnosed at an earlier biological stage than the original tumors. Patients with primary cutaneous melanoma should be made aware of increased risk of developing another primary melanoma and physicians should do careful examinations for new primary melanomas as well as for recurrences of the original melanoma.