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ABSTRACT
Aim: Assess the relationship of serum calcium and serum albumin to tumor stage and other clinical characteristics in patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma (MM). Patients & methods: A cross-sectional study to evaluate serum calcium as a marker of disease progression (n = 644) in MM. Results: Serum albumin was significantly lower among men (p < 0.01) and among patients with stage 4 disease (p < 0.05). In a multivariable regression model adjusted for age, gender and site, albumin-corrected calcium was positively associated with disease stage (odds ratio: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.02–2.07; p = 0.04). The odds of higher stage increased 60% for each 1.0 mg/dl increase in albumin-corrected calcium. Conclusion: Higher albumin-corrected serum calcium may be a marker of disease progression in MM.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Ms Inez Inman, Ms Julia Robertson and Mr Bob Morrell for help with data extraction from the electronic medical records.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
M Datta was supported by the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University Cancer Control Traineeship – NCI/NIH Grant# R25CA122061. Biostatistical services were supported by the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University NCI CCSG P30CA012197 grant. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.
Ethical conduct of research
The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations.