Illness-related distress in women with clinically localized cutaneous melanoma.

Background: Women may experience distress or changes in their quality of life following treatment for early-stage melanoma. In order to plan future interventions and identify areas of primary concern, we conducted a cross-sectional survey to describe the experiences of women treated for clinically localized melanoma.

Methods: We examined quality of life, levels of distress, appearance perceptions, body image, fear of recurrence, and reproductive concerns in 100 patients (age 21-90 years, M = 54.

Pregnancy is Not Detrimental to the Melanoma Patient with Clinically Localized Disease.

Objective: There exists a strong belief among physicians and the lay public that pregnancy adversely affects survival in patients with melanoma. The authors asked if there was any evidence to support this in patients with clinically localized disease.

Methods: The authors reviewed the published literature on MEDLINE.