title: Acral lentiginous melanoma: a case control study and guidelines update.
abstract: Background. Malignant melanoma incidence is increasing dramatically. We report herein a case of the rarest acral lentiginous type. Case Report. A 58-year-old man presented with a melanoma resembling lesion over the sole of his right foot, measuring 15-20 mm in diameter. An excisional biopsy with a narrow (2 mm) margin of surrounding skin was obtained. Histological findings were consistent with a diagnosis of acral lentiginous melanoma. Sentinel lymph node biopsy was also performed and micrometastases were not identified in frozen-section examination. According to the AJCC system, the tumor stage was IB (T2aN0M0). A wide local excision of the biopsy scar with a margin of 2 cm was performed. A split-thickness thick skin graft was used to reconstruct the excisional defect. During an 18-month followup, no local or distant recurrence has been observed. This paper aims to extract an updated rational approach to the management of this disease out of an enormous body of knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Interbalkan European Medical Center, 84 Tsimiski Street, 54622 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Christoforos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kosmidis
authors.forename: Christoforos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Efthimiadis
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Anthimidis
authors.forename: Marios
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grigoriou
authors.forename: Kalliopi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vasiliadou
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ioannidou
authors.forename: Fotini
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Makedou
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baka