Background: Auricular melanomas are rare malignancies, and conflicting reports regarding their clinical behaviors have been published so far.
Objective: In this study, we investigated the clinical features of the auricular melanomas and compared them with periauricular skin melanomas.
Methods: Data of 53 primary melanomas arising in auricular (n = 25) and periauricular regions (n = 28) were analyzed retrospectively.
Results: Demographic, histopathological, and clinical characteristics were found similar between auricular and periauricular melanomas (p > 0.05). Likewise, the recurrence rates for both groups were found to be similar (30%) (p = 0.9). The 5-year relapse-free survival rate of all patients was 57.4%, and no statistical difference was observed between the two groups-63.9% for auricular melanomas and 51.7% for periauricular melanomas (p = 0.5). Moreover, the 5-year overall survival rate of all melanomas was 46.9%, and there was no statistical significance between the two groups-56.1% and 37.4% for auricular and periauricular melanomas, respectively (p = 0.4).
Conclusion: Auricular and periauricular melanomas share similar clinicopathologic features and outcomes.
Keywords: auricular; cutaneous; ear melanoma; survival.
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