Population trends in biopsy techniques used to diagnose melanoma: Impacts on microstaging and management

Abstract

Melanoma rates in Australia are one of the highest in the world. Accurate diagnosis of melanoma is essential for deciding and planning appropriate treatments, achieved through excisional biopsy. Our research has shown increasing rates of shave biopsies as a technique to diagnose melanoma, which are associated with high rates of the tumour being transected at the base, underestimation of tumour thickness and increased number of procedures to achieve safety margins compared to excisional biopsy. This shows a clear shift away from guideline recommendations for melanoma management and highlights important areas for future research.