TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Tumors of Melanocytes A1 - Barnhill, Raymond L. A1 - Piepkorn, Michael W. A1 - Bahrami, Armita A1 - Böer-Auer, Almut A1 - Zembowicz, Artur A1 - Wiesner, Thomas A2 - Barnhill, Raymond L. A2 - Crowson, A. Neil A2 - Magro, Cynthia M. A2 - Piepkorn, Michael W. A2 - Kutzner, Heinz A2 - Desman, Garrett T. PY - 2020 T2 - Barnhill's Dermatopathology, 4e AB - The histopathological recognition of the exceptionally diverse benign, intermediate, and malignant cutaneous melanocytic lesions and their differential diagnoses remain formidable challenges to pathologists (Table 27-1). The gravitas of the diagnostic problem rests with the potential lethality of cutaneous melanoma, the phenomenon of occasionally delayed metastases after a latency of 15 to 25 years or more, the current absence of fully curative treatments for advanced melanoma, and the frequent curability of early melanoma by surgical excision. The reasons for the inordinate difficulty of melanocytic lesions relate to the profound lack of knowledge about their biological nature, the considerable heterogeneity and clinicopathological mimicry of melanoma and nevi one to the other, and consequently the lack of reliable criteria for discriminating melanoma from other melanocytic (and sometimes nonmelanocytic) lesions in a proportion of cases. The goals of this chapter are (1) to provide histopathologic and other criteria for the interpretation of melanocytic lesions following a pragmatic approach to interpretation so that melanoma is recognized if possible but not overdiagnosed, and (2) at the same time ensure that other biologically significant melanocytic neoplasms are not neglected but rather are managed appropriately. SN - PB - McGraw Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/29 UR - dermatology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1178399502 ER -