ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: There are no well-defined clinical factors to predict the risk of occult invasion in melanoma of the lentigo maligna type (LM) before complete histopathologic analysis. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether clinical size was a predictor of invasion in LM and subclinical extension. METHODS: Consecutive cases of LM were recorded in a prospectively maintained database from 2006 to 2019. Patient and tumor data were recorded during initial evaluation. The LM clinical area was calculated in square millimeters (length × width). All patients were treated with staged excision. RESULTS: We included 600 patients. The mean age was 65.9 years (standard deviation, 12.3; range, 27-95 years); 62.8% (n = 377) were men. The mean LM clinical area was 128.32 mm2 for in situ lesions versus 200.14 mm for invasive lesions (P = .1). Based on quantile regression, the median margin required for complete removal increased with LM clinical area. LIMITATIONS: The study was performed in a tertiary cancer center with possible referral bias and more complex cases. CONCLUSIONS: LM can present with variable clinical size, which may correlate with subclinical extension; however, the presence of invasion is not well estimated by LM clinical area.
Subject(s)
Hutchinson's Melanotic Freckle/diagnosis , Mohs Surgery , Skin Neoplasms/diagnosis , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Biopsy , Female , Humans , Hutchinson's Melanotic Freckle/pathology , Hutchinson's Melanotic Freckle/surgery , Male , Margins of Excision , Middle Aged , Neoplasm Invasiveness/diagnosis , Prognosis , Prospective Studies , Skin Neoplasms/pathology , Skin Neoplasms/surgery , Tumor BurdenABSTRACT
RESUMEN El melanoma lentigo maligno es un subtipo de melanoma invasor, que se localiza en áreas fotodañadas de cara y cuello, manifestándose como una mácula no muy definida, de varios colores de la gama del marrón y negro. La variante amelanótica es infrecuente en cualquiera de los subtipos cutáneos de melanoma. Presentamos el caso de una mujer de 63 años, que presentó un melanoma lentigo maligno de subtipo amelanótico y de localización infrecuente, en miembro inferior.
SUMMARY Lentigomalignamelanoma is a subtype of invasive melanoma, located in photodamaged skin, particularly of the face and neck. It appears as an ill- defined macula, of heterogeneous color, ranging from brown to black. The amelanotic variant is infrequent in any of the cutaneous melanoma subtypes. We report the case of a 63-year-old woman with amelanoticlentigomaligna melanoma, located in her lower right limb.