Incompletely excised lentigo maligna melanoma is associated with unpredictable residual disease: clinical features and the emerging role of reflectance confocal microscopy.
J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2020;
34:2280-2287. [PMID:
32030827 PMCID:
PMC8409509 DOI:
10.1111/jdv.16272]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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.
Collapse