Excisional biopsy of a dysplastic nevus in a district polyclinic is a path to early detection of skin melanoma

Abstract

Introduction. Russia has a high mortality rate of cutaneous melanoma – 2.5 per 100,000 population whereas the incidence rate is 7.7 per 100,000 population, i.e. one in every three patients dies. In the foreign countries (the USA, Australia), melanoma mortality rate is 10-15%. Such high rates are explained by the fact that patients with early-stage disease do not seek medical advice, as in early stages a tumour does not cause inconvenience to a patient and looks like an ordinary mole.The purpose of the study was to confirm the advisability of removing a progressive dysplastic nevus (grade 3 lentiginous melanocytic dysplasia) with a view to prevent and make early diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma.Materials and methods. The authors removed 180 pigmented lesions that were clinically diagnosed as a progressive dysplastic nevus in the Surgery Department of Central Polyclinic of Literary Fund from 2009 to March 2020. The patients were referred to the Surgery Department by physicians, dermatologists and other specialists of the polyclinic. Following an oncologist consultation, excisional biopsy of a nevus was performed under local anesthesia.Results. Histological examination revealed 29 (16%) dysplastic nevi with grade 3 LMD and 18 (10%) early-stage melanomas.Conclusions. If excisional biopsy of a dysplastic nevus becomes routine in Ambulatory Surgery practice, it will increase the early diagnosis of melanoma and significantly reduce mortality rates of this disease. For excisional biopsy, the authors recommend to excise at a distance of 0.5 to 1.0 cm from the lesion boundaries, since it is not possible to clinically distinguish a progressive dysplastic nevus from early melanoma.