Incompletely excised lentigo maligna melanoma is associated with unpredictable residual disease: Clinical features and the emerging role of reflectance confocal microscopy Journal Article


Authors: Navarrete-Dechent, C.; Aleissa, S.; Cordova, M.; Liopyris, K.; Lee, E. H.; Rossi, A. M.; Hollman, T.; Pulitzer, M.; Lezcano, C.; Busam, K. J.; Marghoob, A. A.; Chen, C. C. J.; Nehal, K. S.
Article Title: Incompletely excised lentigo maligna melanoma is associated with unpredictable residual disease: Clinical features and the emerging role of reflectance confocal microscopy
Abstract: Background: Lentigo maligna/lentigo maligna melanoma (LM/LMM) poses a treatment and surgical challenge given unpredictable subclinical extension resulting in incomplete excision. Objectives: To describe the demographic, clinical and pathologic characteristics of incompletely excised LM/LMM. To evaluate the potential role of reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM). Patients and methods: A retrospective review of a melanoma database at a tertiary cancer centre for patients referred with ‘incompletely excised LM/LMM’ or ‘incompletely excised melanoma’ between October 2006 and July 2017. We recorded clinical and pathological data and surgical margins needed to clear the residual LM/LMM. The second part consisted of a prospective cohort of patients in which RCM was performed when presenting with incompletely excised LM/LMM. Results: We included a total of 67 patients (retrospective + prospective cohort); mean age was 64.9 (standard deviation: 11.3) years and 52.2% were males. For the retrospective cohort (n = 53), the mean scar size was 3.4 cm. The average initial margins excised prior to presentation were 4.8 mm (range 3–7 mm). The average additional margin needed to clear the residual, incompletely excised LM/LMM was 7.8 mm. For the prospective cohort (n = 14), there were no differences in age, gender or size when compared to the retrospective cohort. RCM had a diagnostic accuracy of 78.6%, a sensitivity of 90.9%, a specificity of 33.3% and a positive predictive value of 83.3% for the detection of incompletely excised LM/LMM. Conclusions: Incompletely excised LM/LMM is a poorly characterized clinical–pathological scenario that may require considerable extra margins for microscopic clearance. RCM may emerge as a valuable tool for the evaluation of patients with incompletely excised LM/LMM. © 2020 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology
Keywords: adult; human tissue; aged; major clinical study; comparative study; diagnostic accuracy; prospective study; sensitivity and specificity; demography; disease association; reflectance confocal microscopy; malignant lentigo; cohort analysis; pathology; retrospective study; sex ratio; cancer center; minimal residual disease; scar formation; aging; patient referral; predictive value; surgical margin; diagnostic test accuracy study; human; male; female; priority journal; article
Journal Title: Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology
Volume: 34
Issue: 10
ISSN: 0926-9959
Publisher: Wiley Blackwell  
Date Published: 2020-10-01
Start Page: 2280
End Page: 2287
Language: English
DOI: 10.1111/jdv.16272
PUBMED: 32030827
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC8409509
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 2 November 2020 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Kishwer S Nehal
    278 Nehal
  2. Melissa P Pulitzer
    203 Pulitzer
  3. Chih-Shan Jason Chen
    55 Chen
  4. Ashfaq A Marghoob
    534 Marghoob
  5. Erica H Lee
    135 Lee
  6. Klaus J Busam
    688 Busam
  7. Anthony Rossi
    233 Rossi
  8. Travis Jason Hollmann
    126 Hollmann
  9. Miguel A Cordova
    88 Cordova
  10. Saud Aleissa
    24 Aleissa