TUESDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Revisions have been made to the American Joint Committee on Cancer Melanoma Staging Database based on improved understanding of the disease, according to a study published online Nov. 16 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

To revise the staging system for cutaneous melanoma, Charles M. Balch, M.D., from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, and colleagues analyzed data from 30,946 patients with stage I to III melanoma and 7,972 patients with stage IV melanoma.

The researchers identified the dominant prognostic factors for localized melanoma and replaced level of invasion with mitotic rate as a primary criterion for defining T1b melanomas. They also defined criteria for the N category in patients with regional metastases, the M category in patients with distant metastases, and classified all patients with microscopic nodal metastases, regardless of extent of tumor burden, as stage III.

"Using an evidence-based approach, revisions to the American Joint Committee on Cancer melanoma staging system have been made that reflect our improved understanding of this disease," Balch and colleagues write. "The use of a consistent set of criteria will facilitate the reporting of melanoma treatment outcomes and comparability of melanoma clinical trials and thereby accelerate the progress of multidisciplinary melanoma treatment approaches."

Several authors reported financial ties to pharmaceutical companies.

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