Accuracy of Diagnostic Biopsy for Cutaneous Melanoma: Implications for Surgical Oncologists

Table 5

Association between patient and tumor variables and change in T Stage and the need for additional treatment after wide local excision.

	T Stage change			Treatment change
	Yes	No	P value	Yes	No	P value
Age, years, mean	66.0±3.0	64.4±0.9	0.5930	65.6±3.4	64.4±0.9	0.7445
Sex			0.4556			0.6529
Female	16/174 (9%)	158/174 (91%)		12/174 (7%)	162/174 (93%)
Male	11/158 (7%)	147/158 (93%)		9/158 (6%)	149/158 (94%)
Primary tumor site			0.5473			0.3707
Head and neck	3/52 (6%)	49/52 (94%)		3/52 (6%)	49/52 (94%)
Trunk	12/110 (11%)	98/110 (89%)		10/110 (9%)	100/110 (91%)
Extremities	12/170 (7%)	158/170 (93%)		8/170 (5%)	162/170 (95%)
Primary tumor histology			0.075			0.1795
Superficial spreading	17/187 (9%)	170/187 (91%)		15/187 (8%)	172/187 (92%)
Lentigo maligna	2/82 (2%)	80/82 (98%)		2/82 (2%)	80/82 (98%)
Nodular	5/40 (13%)	35/40 (87%)		3/40 (8%)	37/40 (92%)
Acral lentiginous and other	3/23 (13%)	20/23 (87%)		1/23 (4%)	22/23 (96%)
Melanoma diameter, cm	2.25±0.2	1.15±0.1	<0.0001	2.22±0.2	1.17±0.1	<0.0001
Tumor thickness, mm	1.56±0.2	2.6±0.5	0.0401	1.62±0.2	2.29±0.6	0.2538
Biopsy type			<0.0001			<0.0001
Excisional	3/187 (2%)	184/187 (98%)		3/187 (2%)	184/187 (98%)
Punch	16/68 (24%)	52/68 (76%)		12/68 (18%)	56/68 (82%)
Shave	4/60 (7%)	56/60 (93%)		3/60 (5%)	57/60 (95%)
Incisional	4/17 (24%)	13/17 (76%)		3/17 (18%)	14/17 (82%)
Biopsy margin status			0.002			0.002
Negative	2/128 (2%)	126/128 (98%)		2/128 (2%)	126/128 (98%)
Positive	25/204 (12%)	179/204 (88%)		19/204 (9%)	185/204 (91%)
Positive biopsy margin type			0.002			0.02
Positive, not specified	11/77 (14%)	66/77 (86%)		7/77 (9%)	70/77 (91%)
Positive, lateral only	4/74 (5%)	70/74 (95%)		4/78 (5%)	74/78 (95%)
Positive, deep only	0/14 (0%)	14/14 (100%)		0/14 (0%)	14/14 (100%)
Positive, lateral + deep	10/35 (29%)	25/35 (71%)		8/35 (23%)	27/35 (77%)