Acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) survival varies according to socioeconomic status (SES) and race, with differences in SES contributing to survival disparities for Hispanic Black and White patients, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Bernice Y. Yan, M.D., from the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New Hyde Park, New York, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database for 2000 to 2016 to compare disease-specific survival in ALM across SES and race. A total of 2,245 patients were identified with a first ALM diagnosis.

The researchers found that the five-year disease-specific survival was 77.8 percent. Compared with those in the highest SES quintile, patients in the lowest and second-to-lowest SES quintiles had 1.33 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.90 to 1.96) and 1.42 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.03 to 1.97) times the risk for death, respectively, after adjustment. The risk for death was increased 1.48 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.10 to 1.99) and 1.24 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.88 to 1.79) times for Hispanic White and Black patients, respectively, versus non-Hispanic Whites. After adjustment for SES and American Joint Committee on Cancer stage at diagnosis, the hazard ratios for ALM-specific death were attenuated in Hispanic White and Black patients.

"Importantly, our study suggests that SES partially contributes to increased ALM mortality in Hispanic White and Black patients," the authors write. "Further investigations into factors accounting for SES and race disparities may improve survival outcomes in ALM."