1. More than just acral melanoma: the controversies of defining the disease
- Author
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Héctor Martínez-Said, Aretha B Nobre, Carla Daniela Robles-Espinoza, David E. Elder, Patricia A. Possik, David J. Adams, Sara Santos Bernardes, and Ingrid Ferreira
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Skin Neoplasms ,Review ,Disease ,Acral lentiginous melanoma ,Pathology and Forensic Medicine ,Epidemiology ,Biomarkers, Tumor ,medicine ,Pathology ,Animals ,Humans ,RB1-214 ,genetics ,skin and connective tissue diseases ,Melanoma ,Nail Apparatus ,Dermatologie ,integumentary system ,Foot ,business.industry ,Hand ,medicine.disease ,Dermatology ,Hairless ,acral melanoma ,Nails ,Anatomopathologie ,Acral melanoma ,Cutaneous melanoma ,histopathology ,Histopathology ,epidemiology ,prognosis ,business - Abstract
Acral melanoma (AM) is a malignant cutaneous melanocytic tumour specifically located on the palms, soles, and nail apparatus, which are areas of glabrous (hairless) skin. Acral lentiginous melanoma, a subtype of AM, represents a histopathological subtype diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma with unique morphological and structural features. Despite clear definitions, the misuse of these terms and the inconsistency in reporting the histopathological features of AM cases have become a major obstacle to the study of the disease. In this review, we discuss the epidemiology, histopathological features, prognosis, and genetic profile of AM, highlighting the differences observed when histopathological subtypes are considered. The increasing global effort to characterise AM cases from ethnically diverse populations would benefit greatly from a more consistent classification of the disease.
- Published
- 2021