Excisional Biopsy and Delayed Wide Excision Versus Primary Wide Excision of Malignant Melanoma

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Abstract
In a retrospective study of 269 cutaneous malignant melanomas in stage I the influence of biopsy on survival was studied. Sixty patients were treated with primary wide excision and 209 patients with excisional biopsy followed by wide excision. The 5 yr survival rates for the 2 groups were 75.0% and 82.8%, respectively. There was an equal distribution of prognostic factors such as thickness, level of invasion, presence of ulceration, location and maximal size of the tumors in the 2 groups. As excisional biopsy with subsequent wide excision gives an accurate histopathologic diagnosis and permits a more rational treatment of thin melanomas, this form of treatment is recommended.