Mortality not up with pregnancy-associated malignant melanoma

(HealthDay)—Cause-specific mortality does not differ significantly for women and girls with malignant melanoma (MM) diagnosed during pregnancy and up to two years postpartum (pregnancy-associated MM [PAMM]) and with non-PAMM, according to a study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Anna L.V. Johansson, from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues examined mortality in women with PAMM in a population-based cohort study. Data were obtained from the Swedish Cancer and Multi-Generation Registers.

From 1963 to 2009, the researchers identified 6,857 women and girls aged 15 to 44 years with a diagnosis of cutaneous MM. Overall, 1,019 cases were categorized as PAMM. There was no significant difference in the cause-specific mortality between PAMM and MM not diagnosed near childbirth (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.09; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.83 to 1.42).

"Given the findings of the current study, and the inconsistent results in earlier studies, we conclude that there is no compelling support for an overall detrimental effect of pregnancy on the prognosis of MM," the authors write.

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