The evolution of melanoma diagnosis: 25 years beyond the ABCDs

	Tweet

Twenty-five years after publishing the mnemonic “ABCD” to facilitate the early diagnosis of melanoma, the group who came up with that moniker says early detection remains a key factor in lowering mortality from malignant melanoma. Darrell S. Rigel, M.D. and colleagues from the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology at New York University School of Medicine say that, despite all of the advances in melanoma diagnosis, timely recognition, detection, and rapid treatment of melanoma remain critical. Their report appears online on CA First Look, and will appear in the September/October issue of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

Although examining tumor cells under a microscope remains the gold standard for diagnosing melanoma, it is one of very few cancers that has the potential to be diagnosed at an early stage through noninvasive approaches because it appears on the outside of the body. Based on their experience in evaluating patients at the New York University School of Medicine Melanoma Cooperative Group, the authors of the current report recommended in 1985 that attention to asymmetry (A), border irregularity (B), color variegation (C), and diameter more than 6 mm (D) of pigmented skin lesions could promote earlier recognition of malignant melanoma.

Approaches to melanoma diagnosis have dynamically evolved during the ensuing quarter century. In the 1990s, dermoscopy enabled the recognition of new subsurface features to help differentiate between malignant and benign pigmented lesions. During the last decade, new computer-based technologies have improved diagnostic sensitivity and specificity and may result in optimizing lesion selection for biopsy and pathology review.

"From the development of the ABCDs through current attempts that use complex computer algorithms and genetic markers, a clinician’s ability to detect melanoma in its earliest form has been augmented,” write the authors. “However, a ‘good clinical eye’ is still fundamental to selecting the lesions for evaluation among the sea of those that are prevalent.”

###

for free access to full text of this article, visit:
http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/papbyrecent.dtl

Article: “The Evolution of Melanoma Diagnosis: 25 Years Beyond the ABCDs,” Darrell S. Rigel, MD; Julie Russak, MD; Robert Friedman, MD, CA Cancer J Clin Published Online: July 28, 2010 (10.3322/caac.20074); Print Issue Date: Sept/Oct 2010.

Contact: David Sampson

American Cancer Society

RELATED STORIES:
The psychology of skin cancer   Lack of Important ‘Gatekeeper’ Protein Linked to Skin Cancer   Lifelong Prevention Still Key to Beating Skin Cancer   Loyola Dermatologists To Offer Free Skin Cancer Screenings   Curry ingredient fights skin cancer   Mayo Clinic study finds dramatic rise in skin cancer in young adults   Inner workings of virus responsible for rare skin cancer   Parents favor genetic testing for melanoma in their children   Researchers use zebrafish to identify new gene linked to melanoma   Not Only Skin Deep: Penn Study on Skin Formation Suggests Strategies to Fight Skin Cancer   Intervention can protect teens from skin cancer   Researchers Find Structural Basis for Incidence of Skin Cancers in a Genetic Disorder   Documenting Skin Can Be Simple Way To Increase Accuracy of Self-Exam   Melanoma rates increasing among Hispanics   Minorities Need to Put their Best Foot Forward to Prevent Skin Cancer   Roche melanoma pill spurs growth of less harmful cancers   Green Tea Helps   One melanoma means there’s a 15% risk of another   Doctors may be able to hear skin cancer spread   Gene variant raises skin cancer risk-study   Skin cancer epidemic underway in the US   Analysis Finds Sunscreens Containing Retinyl Palmitate Do Not Cause Skin Cancer

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]