Dysplastic Nevus, Clark Nevus or Common Nevus?

Abstract

In 1978 Clark and his colleagues put forth a hypothesis that still provokes controversy — the idea that a set of findings in nevi of members of families with a tendency to develop melanoma was a clinicopathologic entity, representing an intermediate step between the “common nevus” and melanoma. The dysplastic nevus is still a controversial entity with some specific clinical and histological characteristics, but with “fuzzy” borders. The dividing line between a “common nevus” at the lower end and melanoma in situ or superficially invasive melanoma at the upper end defies precise characterization, similar to that in other “intermediate” lesions in pathology.KeywordsPapillary DermisMelanocytic NevusDysplastic NevusRete RidgeCongenital NevusThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.