Faculty Bibliography

A group of 525 patients with primary cutaneous malignant melanoma of the trunk was treated by a uniform surgical approach that included regional lymph node dissection for selected patients; 266 (50.6%) had regional lymph node dissections in addition to wide and deep excision, all with primary lesions extending below the superficial papillary dermis. Of 171 patients treated over five years ago, 130 had histologically negative nodes; 94 (72%) are alive with no evidence of disease (NED). Of 41 with histologically positive nodes, 12 (29%) are alive with NED. A comparison of the 21 patients with clinically occult micrometastases shows eight (38%) alive with NED, whereas four of 20 (20%) with clinically demonstrable as well as histologically proven nodal metastases are alive with NED. Though there may be a modest benefit to lymph node dissection for microscopic rather than gross nodal metastases for invasive melanoma of the trunk, for most such patients melanoma in regional nodes indicates the presence of systemic metastatic disease

Discussion of benign breast disease, including signs, symptoms, diagnosis, and suggested treatment, is presented. Helpful means for distinguishing between benign and malignant breast disease include biopsy, patient and family history, age, frequency of pregnancies, and timing of menstruation in relation to examination. The presence of a mass during examination, along with changes in size or firmness of one breast, skin changes, nipple discharge, or changes in nipple epithelium, may provide information helpful to establishing diagnostic procedure. Fibrocystic disease ranging from epithelium-lined cyst to sclerosing adenosis presents with symptoms of breast discomfort. Histopathological changes include hyperplasia of duct epithelium, duct papillomatosis, and blunt duct adenosis. Treatment includes aspiration and re-examination or possibly mammography. When mammography is insufficient to distinguish from carcinoma, a biopsy is indicated. Mammary duct ectasia is characterized by a yellowish-brown discharge, thickening of the duct wall, and shortening and retraction of the nipple. Ductal excision is indicated; excisional biopsy should be performed if a mass is present. Intraductal papilloma presents with bloody nipple and should be further evaluated by biopsy and possibly mammography. Fat necrosis can sometimes mimic cancer; biopsy and mammography may be needed for definitive diagnosis. Fibroadenomas are solid, rubbery, movable lesions. Re-examination during another part of the menstrual cycle and excisional biopsy are indicated for diagnosis. Accurate diagnosis and patient reassurance are necessary when dealing with benign breast disease

A series of 206 patients with cutaneous melanoma of the head and neck has been studied. Ninety patients had a regional lymph node dissections performed. Seventeen lymph node dissections were done therapeutically and 73 were done electively. Thirty-one patients had histologically positive lymph nodes and, of these, 30 patients have been followed to the present time or death. Twenty-nine of these patients (97%) have developed systemic melanoma. Twenty-six patients have died and three are alive with disease. No patient had local recurrence alone while four had local recurrence synchronously with systemic metastases. This contrasts with 29 patients followed for greater than five years with histologically negative nodes, 27 (93.1%) of whom are alive with no evidence of recurrent disease. Regional node metastases with melanoma of the head and neck is an almost certain indication of systemic disease. A selective surgical approach to invasive melanoma in this region is proposed based on the observation in the 31 patients who had radical neck dissections with histologically positive nodes. The metastases always involved the nodal group adjacent to the primary site. This selective approach should allow optimal local control and accurate pathologic staging while limiting the extent of the surgery

Fifty-two patients who were biopsied because of the presence of clustered microcalcifications on mammography, in the absence of any definable mass on x-ray or physical examination, were studied. Localization of the microcalcifications was obtained by measuring the area in relation to the vertical and horizontal axes from the nipple on both lateral and cephalocaudad views. Specimen radiography was obtained to ensure that the area with microcalcifications had been included in the specimen. Carcinoma was found in 17 instances (33%). In four (24%) the detected microcalcifications corresponded to fibrocystic disease, with carcinoma being found only in adjacent tissue with little or no calcifications. Precise localization and removal of only the area containing calcifications without excision of a generous margin of surrounding tissue may result in the exclusion of an adjacent carcinoma

The biopsy techniques utilized for diagnosis in 1,161 patients with primary cutaneous malignant melanoma treated at the New York University Medical Center were reviewed. Eight hundred sixty-four (74%) biopsies were of the excisional type and 269 (23%) were incisional. Twenty-eight biopsies (3%) could not be assessed. Two hundred fifty-two consecutive patients referred for treatment of malignant melanoma to the authors for the last three years were studied to determine whether standard techniques of biopsy and uniform criteria for histopathologic diagnosis and staging were being utilized. One hundred forty-nine of these patients (59%) had total excisional biopsies of their lesions and 103 (41%) had incisional biopsies. Of the latter group, 66 (64%) were for lesions less than 2 cm in diameter and were situated in areas other than the face. The biopsy specimens obtained from 123 patients were reviewed by at least one other pathologist as well as our own (A.B.A.). For these 123 patients a difference of histologic diagnosis between pathologists occurred in 11 (9%). In 58 (47%) there was a discrepancy in assignment of Clark levels or a failure to assess Clark levels. Tumor thicknesses as measured by Breslow were read in only 22 (18%) of these 123 patients. The inadequacies of many of the biopsy specimens and discrepancies in histopathologic interpretation indicate that acceptable biopsy techniques and reproducible diagnostic criteria have not yet been generally adapted for primary cutaneous malignant melanomas

A series of 21 patients treated surgically for primary melanoma of the skin of the breast has been studied. Melanomas in this location accounted for 1.8% of a total of 1,140 patients with primary clinical Stage I and Stage II melanomas treated during a 28 year period. Wide excision with axillary lymph node dissection in selected instances has resulted in no mortality and no local recurrence to date. This approach allowed the preservation of a major portion of the breast in eight female patients. It is emphasized that melanoma is a cutaneous lesion and considerations applying to lymphatic dissemination of parenchymal disease of the breast need not apply