Noninvasive approaches to the early diagnosis of melanoma

Abstract

Melanoma is a highly malignant skin tumor,while high rate of survival can be achieved in melanoma by early diagnosis and treatment.The diagnosis of melanoma undoubtedly depends on histopathological examination,and biopsy or excision is inevitable for the examination.Benign diseases comprise of the major part of melanocytic skin diseases.Unnecessary trauma can be avoided if other noninvasive approaches are available for their early differentiation.Now,noninvasive approaches such as skin self-examination,dermoscopy,teledermoscopy,and confocal laser scanning microscopy can be utilized to distinguish benign and malignant melanocytic skin diseases,shorten the time required for and simplify the process of the diagnosis of melanoma.This review introduces several major noninvasive approaches to the early diagnosis of malignant melanoma. Key words: Melanoma; Diagnosis; Dermoscopy