Multiple primary melanomas: Our experience

Patients with melanoma have an increased risk of having other neoplasms, and particularly other melanomas and non‑melanoma skin cancers. The study aimed to describe multiple primary melanomas in a large medical university centre from Romania (Cluj‑Napoca) from 2004 to 2020. Out of 699 patients with melanoma included in the study, 26 (3.71%) developed multiple tumours. The 26 patients developed a total of 59 melanomas, corresponding to a mean of 2.3 melanomas per patient. The site and histological subtype of the first and second melanomas were not consistent. The proportion of subsequent melanomas that were in situ (51.5%) or thin melanomas (<1 mm, 24.2%) was higher compared with first melanomas (7.7%, respectively 11.5%). The median and mean time to diagnosis was 2.75 months, respectively, 28.09 months. In total, 76.92% of second melanomas were detected within three years, but we were able to document a subsequent melanoma more than ten years after the first diagnosis. The study highlights the importance of follow‑up in patients diagnosed with melanoma, not only in the first years after the primary diagnoses but for the entire life.