title: Current technologies for the in vivo diagnosis of cutaneous melanomas.
abstract: 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. The ABCD rule relies on four simple clinical morphologies of melanoma: 1) Asymmetry, 2) Border irregularity, 3) Color variegation, and 4) Diameter greater than 6 mm. 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Steven Q
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Harold
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rabinovitz
authors.forename: Alfred W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Kopf
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oliviero
mesh_terms: D046169:Dermoscopy; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods