Acral lentiginous melanoma, a rare form of the skin cancer, might have double the risk of death of a comparable nodular melanoma, Australian research suggests.

Monash University researchers have examined data on all cutaneous primary melanomas reviewed by the Victorian Melanoma Service from 1994 to 2016, reporting their findings in a letter to the British Journal of Dermatology.

Of 2951 cases seen, 3.4% (101) were acral lentiginous melanomas (ALMs), 19.6% were nodular melanomas and the remainder were superficial spreading melanomas.

Over a median follow-up of just under five years, 12.5% of patients with either nodular melanoma or ALM had died within 2.4 years of diagnosis.