BACKGROUND Surgical excision is the treatment of choice for lentigo maligna (LM), or melanoma in situ. Topical application of imiquimod, a local immune response modifier, is a novel therapeutic approach that leads to LM tumor clearance. This pilot, open-label, nonrandomized study evaluates the efficacy of imiquimod in patients with LM and other systemic problems that make them poor surgical ris...

While the incidence rates for skin melanoma have increased worldwide in the last decades, Breslow tumor thickness has decreased1. The incidence of in situ melanoma has also increased, and it doubled in the USA between 1988 and 20062. These recent trends are in part due to the diffusion of early diagnosis1,2, which is based on the assumption that the detection of less invasive lesions (i.e., tho...

Using a silver staining technique, nucleolar organiser regions were identified in routinely processed paraffin sections of a range of dermal melanotic lesions. The technique shows argyrophilic NOR associated proteins (AgNORs), which are seen in nuclei as black dots. Although the nuclei of melanocarcinoma in situ, melanocarcinoma per se, and lentigo maligna contained similar numbers of AgNORs, i...

Lentigo maligna (LM) is a pigmented lesion that occurs on the sun-exposed skin, particularly the head and neck areas, of an older patient. The lesion increases in size and at some point, often many years after its onset, may become lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM). For this reason, most authors consider LM a form of melanoma in situ. Treatment includes surgical or destructive modalities; the pref...

BACKGROUND A higher incidence of lentigo maligna (LM) recurrences on the nose was previously observed in our cohort after non-surgical treatment. OBJECTIVES To determine histological parameters that might be related to the previously observed higher incidence of LM recurrences on the nose after non-surgical treatment. METHODS We randomly selected 22 surgical specimens of LM on the nose and ...

Between 1 April 1979 and 31 March 1981, 904 residents of the four western provinces of Canada (population 6.5 million), were diagnosed as suffering from primary cutaneous malignant melanoma. Of 801 patients aged 20-79 years, 665 (83%) were interviewed along with control subjects chosen at random from the general population and matched for age, sex, and province. After exclusion of 70 subjects w...

Background. Divergent differentiation in malignant melanoma is a rare phenomenon, which can lead to delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis, impacting upon patient treatment and outcome, as well as the understanding of tumour behaviour. Case. We present the case of a large long-standing tumour on the scalp of a 72-year-old female patient, which when excised and examined histologically was revealed to...

PURPOSE To promote awareness and prevention of ocular damage that can occur during Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatments of the periocular areas. METHODS A retrospective chart review was conducted of 2 cases involving ocular damage following IPL procedures that were treated at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute for ocular complications. Routine data were collected during ophthalmic examinations. R...

recognised that many people are unsuitable for such treatment, particularly in the case of neurotic and highly reflex types ; so also individuals with blonde skins which do not easily pigment and easily freckle are not usually favourable subjects, and in these depression and not stimulation often follow the treatments. The same would also apply to all cases of hydroa aestivalis (recurrent summe...

AIM To report the evolution of a de novo choroidal melanoma. METHOD This is a case report of a 22-year-old white male patient who has been undergoing periodic examination for a choroidal 'freckle' since 10 years of age. RESULTS In 2007, a fundus photograph of the left eye showed a nondescript area of choroidal hyperpigmentation temporal to the fovea. Progressive growth was observed and, by ...