Ｅａｒｌｙ ｍａｌｉｇｎａｎｔ ｍｅｌａｎｏｍａ，診断と治療

Abstract

The incidence of malignant melanoma has increased recently but its prognosis has improved throughout the world, including Japan. The reason for this might be due to advances in intensive treatment and early diagnosis. However, it is still true that advanced malignant melanoma is usually incurable. Correct diagnosis of early malignant melanoma is very important because the prognosis and the treatment are quite different from those of an advanced case. But it is often difficult to differentiate with the naked eye early malignant melanoma from a benign pigmented lesion like a melanocytic nevus. Recent technical advances in dermoscopy (epiluminescence microscopy) have contributed to the early and correct diagnosis of malignant melanoma, allowing us to evaluate the structure of the surface profiles of pigmented skin lesions in detail. In this report I emphasized that early diagnosis was very beneficial for the treatment of malignant melanoma. [Skin Cancer (Japan) 2001; 16: 211-221]