{"id":810,"date":"2023-01-05T19:02:51","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T00:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/?post_type=chapter&p=810"},"modified":"2023-01-12T14:48:05","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T19:48:05","slug":"melanocytic-lesions-melanoma","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/chapter\/melanocytic-lesions-melanoma\/","title":{"raw":"Melanocytic Lesions: Melanoma","rendered":"Melanocytic Lesions: Melanoma"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n

What is it?<\/h1>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nMelanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer. Fortunately, it is rare in children, with only 1-3% of all melanoma cases occurring under 20 years of age. The cause of melanoma is multifactorial with both genetics and environmental exposure (most importantly UV light) playing a role. Malignant melanoma is most common in light skinned patients. When melanoma occurs in patients with skin of colour it is usually on acral surfaces or the nail beds.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n

What does it look like?<\/h1>\r\n\r\n\r\nIn adults and older children, melanoma follows the ABCDE criteria. In children under 12, amelanotic melanoma is more common. These generally present with a new and growing pink papule that bleeds. They are often misdiagnosed and so any such lesion that is removed should be submitted to pathology.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_858\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"]\"\" Image 8.7: Melanoma presenting as a bleeding papule[\/caption]\r\n\r\n \r\n
\r\n

The ABCDE\u2019s of Melanoma in Adults:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

\r\n\r\nAsymmetry: <\/span><\/strong>The colour is not uniform across the mole and the shape is not symmetric\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nBorder irregularity: <\/strong>The mole has variable edges including scalloping or notches and may have projections growing off to the side.\r\n\r\nColour variability: <\/strong>The mole has multiple colours or shades of colour within it.\u00a0 It may be brown, black, red, white, or even blue.\r\n\r\nDiameter:\u00a0<\/strong>Mole is >6mm in width.\r\n\r\nEvolving:\u00a0<\/strong>Growing and changing in size or shape.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n

How is it treated?<\/h1>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nA suspected melanoma should be biopsied with a 1-2mm clinical margin, but is likely to require re-excision of the pathology confirms melanoma. Fortunately, the prognosis for children with melanoma is generally better than that for adults. A complete work-up with by dermatology in conjunction with medical oncology is generally recommended to determine the need for systemic therapy and direct therapy choices. Close follow-up is indicated for patients with previous melanoma who are at highest risk of developing a second melanoma in the first 2-3 years after diagnosis.\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
\n

What is it?<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer. Fortunately, it is rare in children, with only 1-3% of all melanoma cases occurring under 20 years of age. The cause of melanoma is multifactorial with both genetics and environmental exposure (most importantly UV light) playing a role. Malignant melanoma is most common in light skinned patients. When melanoma occurs in patients with skin of colour it is usually on acral surfaces or the nail beds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

What does it look like?<\/h1>\n

In adults and older children, melanoma follows the ABCDE criteria. In children under 12, amelanotic melanoma is more common. These generally present with a new and growing pink papule that bleeds. They are often misdiagnosed and so any such lesion that is removed should be submitted to pathology.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"
Image 8.7: Melanoma presenting as a bleeding papule<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

The ABCDE\u2019s of Melanoma in Adults:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/header>\n

\n

Asymmetry: <\/span><\/strong>The colour is not uniform across the mole and the shape is not symmetric\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Border irregularity: <\/strong>The mole has variable edges including scalloping or notches and may have projections growing off to the side.<\/p>\n

Colour variability: <\/strong>The mole has multiple colours or shades of colour within it.\u00a0 It may be brown, black, red, white, or even blue.<\/p>\n

Diameter:\u00a0<\/strong>Mole is >6mm in width.<\/p>\n

Evolving:\u00a0<\/strong>Growing and changing in size or shape.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

How is it treated?<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
\n

A suspected melanoma should be biopsied with a 1-2mm clinical margin, but is likely to require re-excision of the pathology confirms melanoma. Fortunately, the prognosis for children with melanoma is generally better than that for adults. A complete work-up with by dermatology in conjunction with medical oncology is generally recommended to determine the need for systemic therapy and direct therapy choices. Close follow-up is indicated for patients with previous melanoma who are at highest risk of developing a second melanoma in the first 2-3 years after diagnosis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1682,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-810","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":802,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1682"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1402,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/810\/revisions\/1402"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/802"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/810\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=810"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=810"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}