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It is not known if children and adolescents with atypical Spitz tumour and cutaneous melanoma differ in terms of etiological factors. The aim of this study was to explain differences in individual and environmental factors between cutaneous melanoma and atypical Spitz tumour. In the context of a study on melanocytic lesions, all subjects aged under 20 years with either cutaneous melanoma or atypical Spitz tumour were included (N = 105). Information on socio-demographic characteristics, individual and environmental factors were collected for both mother and child. The Fisher's exact test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used for categorical variables and continuous variables respectively. A multivariate logistic model was used to explain differences in outcome by differences in explanatory variables. In comparison to patients with cutaneous melanoma, patients with atypical Spitz tumour had less freckles (p = 0.020), lower number of common nevi (p = 0.002), and lower body mass index (p = 0.001) and experienced less sunburns episodes (p = 0.008). However, in the multivariate analysis, only a low number of common nevi remained statistically significant. Children and adolescents with cutaneous melanoma have a high number of nevi in comparison to the same-age group with atypical Spitz tumour.Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the only difference in individual and environmental risk factors between cutaneous melanoma and atypical Spitz tumour in children and adolescents is the number of nevi. What is Known: •Atypical Spitz tumours and cutaneous melanoma in children and adolescents are clinically similar, but compared with melanoma, they have a good overall prognosis. •Risk factors for cutaneous melanoma in children and adolescents are similar to the ones found in adults in the literature What is New: •Differences in individual and environmental risk factors for atypical Spitz tumour in children and adolescents are described for the first time in this study. •Individual and environmental factors for atypical Spitz tumour in children and adolescents are comparable to cutaneous melanoma, except for the presence of low number of nevi., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Whether timing of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in cutaneous melanoma improves survival is not yet clear. The aim of this study was to investigate if the timing of SLNB influences long-term melanoma mortality., Methods: A 10-year retrospective cohort study was conducted on 748 cutaneous melanoma patients who underwent excision of the SLN. Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated from Cox proportional hazards models., Results: After adjusting for sex, age, Breslow thickness, mitotic rate, ulceration, and histologic type, patients who underwent early SLNB (≤30 days) and resulted positive on final pathology had a 3 times decreased risk of melanoma mortality (hazard ratio = .29; 95%confidence interval = .11 to .77) in comparison to patients who underwent delayed SLNB (≥31 days) and resulted positive on final pathology., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that early SLNB (≤30 days) improves melanoma survival., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)