title: Diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous melanoma: a practical guide.
abstract: During the past decades, a number of new scientific evidences have been provided allowing a better understanding of the nature of cutaneous melanoma. New scientific methods, such as dermoscopy, have been shown to improve the diagnostic accuracy of pigmented skin lesions and early recognition of melanoma. Aggressive approaches for the surgical treatment of melanoma have been shown to be useless and have been replaced by more conservative surgical protocols and by sentinel lymph node biopsy. In the advanced stage of melanoma, new chemotherapy protocols and immunotherapy have been proposed, whereas the role of vaccines is still under investigation. In this review, the authors present an up-to-date overview of the epidemiologic, clinical, histopathologic, and therapeutic aspects of melanoma that can be used as a practical guide for the management of this tumor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zalaudek
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Argenziano
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ruocco
authors.forename: H Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Soyer
mesh_terms: D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000379:methods; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000473:pathology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000379:methods*