Pitfalls in the diagnosis of lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma, facts and an opinion

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ..

Lentigo maligna/lentigo maligna melanoma (LM/LMM) affects chronically sun-damaged skin of the head and neck with a slow radial growth phase. It is characterised by predominantly lentiginous proliferation of small, but atypical melanocytes with occasional upward scatter in an atrophic epidermis. It is not uncommon for pathologists to receive partial or scouting biopsies to assess for LM. This makes the interpretation of symmetry and circumscription of the lesions challenging. Therefore, both cytologic and architectural criteria should be taken into consideration to render an accurate diagnosis of melanoma. Moreover, pathologists should be vigilant to avoid missing invasion, as this can change the treatment plan and prognosis. Herein, we aim to discuss important pitfalls in the diagnosis of LMM and its invasive component. Some of these caveats are differentiating between true invasion versus adnexal involvement by the in situ component or an incidental intradermal nevus, detection of microinvasion and multifocal invasion, and recognition of desmoplastic/spindle cell melanoma component.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2021

Erschienen:

2021

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:74

Enthalten in:

Journal of clinical pathology - 74(2021), 1 vom: 03. Jan., Seite 7-9

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Sina, Niloofar [VerfasserIn]
Saeed-Kamil, Zaid [VerfasserIn]
Ghazarian, Danny [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Diagnosis
Journal Article
Melanoma
Review
Skin

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 04.01.2021

Date Revised 04.01.2021

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1136/jclinpath-2020-207051

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM316209376