Abstract
Cutaneous melanoma, although essentially a Single entity — a malignant tumour of cutaneous melanocytes — exhibits a wide spectrum of histological appearances. Some tumours are densely cellular, with a compact and nodular pattern of growth, whereas others consist of a diffuse and ill-defined paucicellular spindlecell proliferation which may be difficult to delineate from the surrounding tissues. Cell types vary from polygonal or rounded to elongated and dendritic; in some melanomas, the tumour cells show only very mild pleomorphism, in others, they are bizarre and exceedingly pleomorphic. Some tumours retain a very superficial growth pattern for many years, whereas others rapidly form masses which deeply penetrate the skin and underlying tissues.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Ackerman AB (1980) Malignant melanoma, a unifying concept. Hum Pathol 11: 591 – 595
Ackerman AB (1982) Disagreements with the current Classification of malignant melanomas. Am J Surg Pathol 6: 733 – 743
Ackerman AB (1989) Differentiation of benign from malignant neoplasms by Silhouette. Am J Dermatopathol 11: 297 – 300
Ackerman AB, David KM (1986) A unifying concept of malignant melanoma: biologic aspects. Hum Pathol 17: 438 – 440
Breslow A (1970) Thickness, cross-sectional area and depth of invasion in the prognosis of cutaneous melanoma. Ann Surg 172: 902 – 908
Breslow A (1980) Prognosis in cutaneous melanoma: tumor thickness as a guide to treatment. Pathol Ann 15-1: 1 – 22
Clark WH, From L, Bernardino E, Mihm MC (1969) The histogenesis and biologic behavior of primary human malignant melanomas of the skin. Cancer Res 29: 705 – 726
Egbert B, Kempson R, Sagebiel R (1988) Desmoplastic malignant melanoma. A clinicohistopathologic study of 25 cases. Cancer 62: 2033 – 2041
Goldenhersh MA, Sarin RC, Barnill RL, Stenn KS (1988) Malignant blue nevus. Case report and literature review. J Am Acad Dermatol 19: 712-722
Hendrickson MR, Ross JC (1981) Neoplasms arising in congenital giant naevi. Morphologie study of seven cases and a review of the literature. Am J Surg Pathol 5: 109-135
Jain S, Allen PW (1989) Desmoplastic malignant melanoma and its variants. A study of 45 cases. Am - J Surg Pathol 13: 358 – 373
Koh H, Michalik E, Sober AJ et al. (1984) Lentigo maligna melanoma has no better prognosis than other types of melanoma. J Clin Oncol 2: 994 – 1001
Kornberg R, Harris M, Ackerman AB (1978) Epidermotropically metastatic malignant melanoma. Arch Dermatol 114: 67 – 69
McGovern VJ, Cochran AJ, Van der Esch EP, Little JH, MacLennan R (1986) The Classification of malignant melanoma, its histological reporting and registration: a revision of the 1972 Sydney Classification. Pathology 18: 12 – 21
Nield DV, Saad MN, Khoo CTK, Lott M, Ali MH (1988) Tumour thickness in malignant melanoma: the limitation of frozen section. Br J Plast Surg 41: 403 – 407
Phillips ME, Margolis RJ, Merot Y, Sober AJ, Reed RJ, Muhlbauer JE, Mihm MC (1986) The spectrum of minimal deviation melanoma: a clinicopathologic study of 21 cases. Hum Pathol 17: 796 – 806
Reed RJ (1976) Acral lentiginous melanoma. In: New concepts in surgical pathology of the skin, Wiley, New York, pp 87 – 97
Reed R RJ, Ichinose H, Clark WH, Mihm JC (1975) Common and uncommon melanocytic nevi and borderline melanomas. Semin Oncol 2: 119 – 147
Roth ME, Grant-Kels JM, Kuhn K, Greenberg RD, Hurwitz S (1990) Melanoma in children. J Am Acad Dermatol 22: 265 – 274
Smith KJ, Skelton HG, Lupton GP, Graham JH (1989) Spindle and epithelioid cell nevi with atypia and metastasis (malignant Spitz nevus). Am J Surg Pathol 13: 931 – 939
Suster S, Rönnen M, Bubis JJ (1987) Verrucous pseudonevoid melanoma. J Surg Oncol 36: 134 – 137
Temple-Camp CRE, Saxe N, King H (1988) Benign and malignant cellular blue nevus. A clinocopathologic study of 30 cases. Am J Dermatopathol 10: 289 – 296
Vecchio TJ (1966) Predictive value of a Single diagnostic test in unselected populations. N Engl J Med 274: 1171 – 1173
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1992 Springer-Verlag London Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mooi, W.J., Krausz, T. (1992). The Histological Diagnosis of Cutaneous Melanoma. In: Kirkham, N., Cotton, D.W.K., Lallemand, R.C., White, J.E., Rosin, R.D. (eds) Diagnosis and Management of Melanoma in Clinical Practice. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1925-8_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1925-8_6
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-1927-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-1925-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive