title: Pregnancy as a driver for melanoma.
abstract: Whether or not pregnancy favours the occurrence and growth of melanoma is a source of controversy in the literature. Several case reports have shown dramatic courses of diseases in pregnancy. We present a case of a 36-year-old woman with multiple naevi with one melanoma detected in 2009 in the first trimester and a second primary melanoma in 2010 in the third trimester of her pregnancy. Both lesions have been present for at least 5 years and have been interpreted as dysplastic naevi. Because of their growth during pregnancy they were removed. No metastatic disease has been found between 2010 and early 2017. This case shows the difficulty of detecting melanomas in pregnancy, particularly when they mimic dysplastic naevi in women with multiple naevi, who are at higher risk. Therefore, we suggest that pregnant women with numerous naevi should be precautious of any changes of their naevi in size, shape and colour. Every suspicious lesion should be either excised or documented/monitored carefully, for example with sequential digital dermoscopy imaging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 8, A-8036, Graz, Austria.|Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 8, A-8036, Graz, Austria.|Dermatology Research Centre, The University of Queensland, School of Medicine, Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Richtig
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Institute, University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia.|Experimental Dermatology Group, University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Byrom
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 8, A-8036, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kupsa
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 8, A-8036, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schaider
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 8, A-8036, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hofmann-Wellenhof
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 8, A-8036, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: I H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 8, A-8036, Graz, Austria.|Department of Dermatology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Soyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 8, A-8036, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Richtig
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004416:Dysplastic Nevus Syndrome / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology*; D009508:Nevus, Pigmented / Q000473:pathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / Q000473:pathology*; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*