TY - JOUR
T1 - Reasons for excision of skin tumors
T2 - A one-year prospective study in a tertiary skin cancer unit
AU - Lallas, Aimilios
AU - Longo, Caterina
AU - Moscarella, Elvira
AU - Lombardi, Mara
AU - Specchio, Francesca
AU - Raucci, Margherita
AU - Zalaudek, Iris
AU - Argenziano, Giuseppe
PY - 2015/5/28
Y1 - 2015/5/28
N2 - Background: Biopsies and surgical excisions represent routine procedures in clinical settings dealing with skin cancer. Objective: To evaluate the impact of clinical examination, dermoscopy, reflectance confocal microscopy and digital monitoring on the decision to excise or biopsy a lesion in routine practice. Methods: Patients scheduled for biopsy or excision of a skin lesion were prospectively enrolled. The expert dermatologist was asked to select the main factor that prompted him/her to excise or biopsy the lesion. Results: The most common reason for melanoma excision was clinical and dermoscopic morphology (70.3%), followed by dermoscopy (11.4%), monitoring (8.9%) and clinical context (8.2%). Most basal and squamous cell carcinomas were recognized both clinically and dermoscopically, while 18.6 and 15.0%, respectively, could only be detected with dermoscopic examination. Conclusion: Each part of the clinical examination has a contributory role in the diagnosis of melanoma and other skin cancers.
AB - Background: Biopsies and surgical excisions represent routine procedures in clinical settings dealing with skin cancer. Objective: To evaluate the impact of clinical examination, dermoscopy, reflectance confocal microscopy and digital monitoring on the decision to excise or biopsy a lesion in routine practice. Methods: Patients scheduled for biopsy or excision of a skin lesion were prospectively enrolled. The expert dermatologist was asked to select the main factor that prompted him/her to excise or biopsy the lesion. Results: The most common reason for melanoma excision was clinical and dermoscopic morphology (70.3%), followed by dermoscopy (11.4%), monitoring (8.9%) and clinical context (8.2%). Most basal and squamous cell carcinomas were recognized both clinically and dermoscopically, while 18.6 and 15.0%, respectively, could only be detected with dermoscopic examination. Conclusion: Each part of the clinical examination has a contributory role in the diagnosis of melanoma and other skin cancers.
KW - Basal cell carcinoma
KW - Diagnosis
KW - Excision
KW - Melanoma
KW - Squamous cell carcinoma
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U2 - 10.1159/000371878
DO - 10.1159/000371878
M3 - Article
C2 - 25675954
AN - SCOPUS:84929947404
VL - 230
SP - 340
EP - 346
JO - Dermatology
JF - Dermatology
SN - 1018-8665
IS - 4
ER -