Clinics in dermatology
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Clinics in dermatology · May 2004
ReviewCurrent technologies for the in vivo diagnosis of cutaneous melanomas.
The rising incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma has been observed in the past decades. Currently, there is no cure for metastatic melanoma; only early diagnosis followed by prompt excision of cutaneous lesions ensures a good prognosis. The clinical ABCD rule is created as a framework for differentiating melanomas from benign pigmented skin lesions, and it serves as the basis for current clinical diagnosis. ⋯ Although it is valuable, it has its limitations. Currently, the diagnostic accuracy for physicians is about 65%. This statistic implies that 1) melanomas with subtle signs are missed as benign lesions, and 2) benign lesions are over diagnosed as melanomas, which lead to unnecessary biopsies.