RT Book, Section
A1 Curti, Brendan D.
A1 Vetto, John T.
A1 Leachman, Sancy A.
A2 Loscalzo, Joseph
A2 Fauci, Anthony
A2 Kasper, Dennis
A2 Hauser, Stephen
A2 Longo, Dan
A2 Jameson, J. Larry
SR Print(0)
ID 1196992686
T1 Cancer of the Skin
T2 Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 21e
YR 2022
FD 2022
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781264268504
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1196992686
RD 2023/09/28
AB Pigmented  lesions  are  among  the  most  common  findings  on  skin  examination.  The  challenge  for  the  physician  is  to  distinguish  benign  lesions  from  cutaneous  melanomas  and  nonmelanoma  skin  cancers  (NMSCs).  Both  melanoma  and  NMSC  are  increasing  in  frequency,  and  melanoma  accounts  for  over  half  of  the  deaths  resulting  from  skin  cancer.  Melanoma  is  an  aggressive  malignancy  of  melanocytes,  pigment-producing  cells  that  originate  from  the  neural  crest  and  migrate  to  the  skin,  meninges,  mucous  membranes,  upper  esophagus,  and  eyes.  Melanocytes  in  each  of  these  locations  have  the  potential  for  malignant  transformation,  but  the  vast  majority  of  melanomas  arise  in  the  skin,  often  permitting  detection  at  a  time  when  complete  surgical  excision  leads  to  cure.  Cutaneous  melanoma  can  occur  in  people  of  all  ages  and  all  colors.  Examples  of  malignant  melanoma  of  the  skin,  mucosa,  eye,  and  nail  are  shown  in  Fig.  76-1.