title: The most common challenges in melanoma diagnosis and how to avoid them.
abstract: Due to its particularly lethal nature and tendency to affect relatively young individuals, the timely diagnosis of melanoma remains of paramount importance for clinicians and their patients. Unfortunately, melanomas can mimic benign lesions that are overwhelmingly more common in the population than are melanomas, and misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis of melanoma can occur. Misdiagnosis of melanoma serves as one of the most common causes for malpractice litigation brought against medical practitioners. In this review we describe seven clinical scenarios that represent challenges in melanoma diagnosis and discuss potential strategies for avoiding the errors that commonly give rise to those scenarios.
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Service, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10022, USA. marghooa@mskcc.org
authors.forename: Ashfaq A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Marghoob
authors.forename: Lily
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Changchien
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: DeFazio
authors.forename: Whitney C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Dessio
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Malvehy
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zalaudek
authors.forename: Allan C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Halpern
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scope
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008318:Malpractice; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology