[Factors influencing early detection of malignant melanoma]. / A melanoma malignum korai felismerését befolyásoló tényezok.

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Melanoma is a highly aggressive tumour with often unpredictable outcome. Our aim with this study was to determine factors influencing early detection of melanoma. METHOD: We analyzed 139 questionnaires completed by patients diagnosed with melanoma. RESULTS: We found that our patients are health-conscious regarding cardiovascular diseases and attend cancer screenings on recall. However, their knowledge about melanoma is insufficient. Most of them perform skin self-examination, but they do not know what to check. Melanoma is detected mostly by the patients themselves, but it takes more than one year to consult a doctor. Our study confirmed that patients' attitude toward melanoma is an important factor influencing early detection. We found that physical examination and communication about skin cancer prevention is not part of the routine medical care. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to improve knowledge about melanoma among the general population and health care providers and to emphasize that early detection can save lives. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(51), 2028-2033.

The role of electrochemotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced or recurrent eyelid-periocular basal cell carcinoma: long-term results.

BACKGROUND: While electrochemotherapy (ECT) is increasingly utilized as a highly effective method in the treatment of tumors in the head and neck region, there is significantly less data available for eyelid-periocular skin tumors. Our group reported the first extensive case series of eyelid-periocular basal cell carcinoma (BCC) patients with short-term follow-up treatment with ECT. The present study aims to report our long-term results of eyelid-periocular BCC cases treated with ECT. METHODS: The treatments were performed according to the ESOPE (European Standard Operating Procedures on Electrochemotherapy) guidelines using the Cliniporator™ device. All patients received bleomycin-based ECT, administered intratumorally or intravenously. Tumor response was evaluated using the RECIST 1.1 criteria. RESULTS: The results of 19 patients treated with ECT are presented. Four patients had locally advanced primary tumors, while 15 patients had recurrent tumors. Bleomycin was administered intratumorally in four patients and intravenously in 15 patients. The overall response was 100%, while the complete response rate proved to be 95%. In three cases (15.8%), recurrence was observed during the mean follow-up period of 78.9 months. CONCLUSIONS: ECT can effectively treat locally advanced or recurrent BCC in the eyelid-periocular skin region. Excellent tumor control can be achieved with good functional and cosmetic results without systemic adverse events with long interval follow-up.

Penile melanoma: a pathological report of two cases.

BACKGROUND: Penile melanoma (PM) is a rare tumor, accounting for less than 2% of all penile cancers. PM can occur on the surface of the glans, foreskin, and opening of the urethra. Furthermore, PM primarily affects older individuals and is not associated with sun exposure. Currently, there is no specific staging system for genitourinary tract melanomas, so these tumors are typically staged using the criteria for cutaneous melanoma. Limited data in the literature suggests that PM generally has a poor clinical prognosis. CASE PRESENTATION: Here, we describe two cases of PM. The first case affected a 62-year-old male who presented with hematuria and a painful tumor in the distal urethra, leading to a suspicion of penile cancer. The second case involved a 68-year-old male who noticed a rapidly evolving dark spot on his foreskin. Histological analysis confirmed the presence of melanoma in both patients. The tumors showed a diffuse and strong PRAME-positivity and lacked BRAF mutation in both cases. Additionally, the second tumor harbored an activating CKIT mutation. An enhanced PD-L1 expression was observed in both tumors. CONCLUSIONS: We presented two rare forms of mucosal melanoma and highlighted the entities in the differential diagnosis. Based on our experience PRAME is a helpful marker for making the diagnosis of PM, and PD-L1 can predict the success of the immunotherapy. We also emphasize the need for an organ-specific staging system for PMs.