Melanoma in the elderly patient: a single institution retrospective analysis

Background Debate around the reliability of age as a prognostic factor in melanoma patient has been intense. Age is likely a prognosis affecting factor in melanoma, either directly or indirectly, as it causes differences in diagnosis, biologic behavior and therapy. Furthermore there is lack of data from widest randomized controlled trials, because of the exclusions criteria for the elderly. Therefore the management of elderly patients with melanoma remains challenging. We undertook this study to identify factors associated with outcome.