It is known that dermatological patients receive pathogenic therapy (phototherapy, cytostatic, immunosuppressive and biological drugs), which may to be as an additional specific risk factor for the development of skin malignant neoplasms. However, prevalence of risk factors for development of melanoma in the population of dermatological patients in comparison with healthy volunteers has not been previously studied.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the prevalence of risk factors for melanoma development among dermatological patients in comparison with volunteers without skin disorders.

Material and methods: The main group included 413 dermatological outpatients and inpatients (268 of which were women (64.9%)) who visited Moscow Scientific Center of Dermatology, Venerology and Cosmetology; the control group included 249 healthy volunteers without dermatological disorders (197of which were women (79.11 %)). All participants filled in a questionnaire and clinical dermatological examination was conducted in order to identify the risk factors for skin melanoma development.

RESULTS

In dermatological patients, a higher prevalence of risk factors was revealed compared to the control group (p<0.05): male gender aged over 50 (OR 3.36); history of phototherapy (OR 22.51); more than 50 nevi on the skin of the body or more than 20 nevi on the skin of arms with a diameter of more than 2 mm (OR 1.68); congenital melanocytic nevi less than 1.9 cm (OR 6.36) and 2—19 cm in diameter (OR 6.30); skin photo-type I (OR 2.07); skin photo-type II (OR 6.17); signs of skin photo-damage (OR 2.33); combination of skin photo-type II with signs of photo-damage (OR 7.62).

CONCLUSION

In dermatological patients, the higher prevalence of several risk factors for the melanoma development was revealed in comparison with volunteers without skin disorders. These results suggest the necessity of a regular screening examination of dermatological patients with risk factors for the melanoma development by a dermatovenerologist.