Table 1 Characteristics of the patients included in the discovery cohort
Characteristics | No. of patients | % |
|---|---|---|
All clinical samples | ||
 Type |  |  |
  Benign | 14 | 18.6 |
  Primary | 33 | 44.0 |
  Metastatic | 28 | 37.3 |
Nevi | ||
 Sex |  |  |
  Male | 9 | 64.2 |
  Female | 5 | 35.7 |
 Mean age (range), years | 20.6 (1–74) |  |
  ≤50 | 12 | 85.7 |
  ≥50 | 2 | 14.3 |
 Location |  |  |
  Head and neck | 3 | 21.4 |
  Trunk | 8 | 57.1 |
  Upper limbs | 2 | 14.3 |
  Lower limbs | 1 | 7.1 |
Primary melanoma | ||
 Sex |  |  |
  Male | 17 | 51.5 |
  Female | 16 | 48.5 |
 Mean age (range), years | 62.1 (34–84) |  |
  ≤50 | 10 | 30.3 |
  ≥50 | 23 | 69.7 |
 Breslow thickness, mm |  |  |
  0.01–1.0 | 5 | 15.2 |
  1.01–2.0 | 8 | 24.2 |
  2.01–4.0 | 10 | 30.3 |
  >4.0 | 10 | 30.3 |
 Clark level |  |  |
  I–III | 3 | 9.1 |
  IV–V | 30 | 90.9 |
 Ulceration |  |  |
  Absent | 19 | 57.6 |
  Present | 14 | 42.4 |
 Histological subtype |  |  |
  Superficial spreading malignant melanoma | 33 | 100.0 |
 Location |  |  |
  Head and neck | 5 | 15.6 |
  Trunk | 11 | 34.4 |
  Upper limb | 2 | 6.3 |
  Lower limb | 14 | 43.8 |
 Event recurrence |  |  |
  Yes | 14 | 43.8 |
  No | 18 | 56.3 |
 Died of melanoma |  |  |
  Yes | 10 | 31.3 |
  No | 22 | 68.8 |
Metastatic melanoma | ||
 Sex |  |  |
  Male | 9 | 37.5 |
  Female | 15 | 62.5 |
 Mean age (range), years | 60.8 (31–89) |  |
  ≤50 | 8 | 33.3 |
  ≥50 | 16 | 66.7 |
 Breslow thickness, mm |  |  |
  0.01–1.0 | 0 | 0 |
  1.01–2.0 | 6 | 31.6 |
  2.01–4.0 | 9 | 47.4 |
  >4.0 | 4 | 21.1 |
 Clark level |  |  |
  I–III | 2 | 9.5 |
  IV–V | 19 | 90.5 |
 Ulceration |  |  |
  Absent | 8 | 47.1 |
  Present | 9 | 52.9 |
 Histological subtype |  |  |
  Superficial spreading malignant melanoma | 28 | 100.0 |
 Location |  |  |
  Head and neck | 2 | 10.5 |
  Trunk | 4 | 21.0 |
  Upper limb | 0 | 0 |
  Lower limb | 13 | 68.4 |