Desmoplastic malignant melanoma: a study of ten cases and status of BRAF mutation

Abstract

Background: Desmoplastic malignant melanoma (DM) is a rare variant of melanoma. BRAF gene mutations have been poorly explored in this entity.

Objective: To detect BRAF gene mutation in a series of DM.

Methods: This is a single-center retrospective study of ten patients with DM, with a biomolecular analysis of BRAF mutation.

Results: The male:female ratio was 2.3:1, with a mean patient age of 66.5 years. Melanoma arose in the head and neck region in 3 cases. The mean tumor thickness was 7.97 mm, Clark level was IV or V in all cases. Six melanomas were of the pure DM variant. Three patients had at least one local recurrence, two had regional node metastases, and two experienced systemic metastases which they died of (average follow-up 34.1 months). A V600E BRAF mutation was detected in only one patient.

Conclusion: BRAF mutation seems to be a rare event in DM contrary to other melanoma variants.