Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:Survival outcomes in acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) are worse than for cutaneous melanoma. Diagnostic delays are believed to contribute to worse outcomes in ALM, including advanced-stage disease at initial presentation. Acral lentiginous melanoma, especially in its early stages, may be difficult to discern from benign pigmented acral lesions. OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of the diagnosis and management of acral pigmented lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A literature review was performed. The outcomes included were the clinical and dermoscopic features and the management frameworks and considerations for acquired and congenital melanocytic nevi, acral melanosis, nonmelanocytic pigmented lesions, and ALM. RESULTS:Original research studies were primarily included. The use of dermoscopy, such as the 3-step algorithm and blotch (irregular), ridge pattern (parallel), asymmetry of structures, asymmetry of colors, furrow pattern (parallel), fibrillar pattern (BRAAFF) checklist, increases the diagnostic accuracy of acral pigmented lesions with high specificity and sensitivity. Short-term digital dermoscopic surveillance can be used to manage acral lesions, and histopathology should be collected when there is a concern for ALM. CONCLUSION:The use of dermoscopy and an understanding of how to manage acral lesions may limit the number of biopsies performed on the acral skin, decrease the time to diagnosis, and facilitate early detection of ALM.

IMPORTANCE:Therapy for advanced melanoma has transformed during the past decade, but early detection and prognostic assessment of cutaneous melanoma (CM) remain paramount goals. Best practices for screening and use of pigmented lesion evaluation tools and gene expression profile (GEP) testing in CM remain to be defined. OBJECTIVE:To provide consensus recommendations on optimal screening practices and prebiopsy diagnostic, postbiopsy diagnostic, and prognostic assessment of CM. EVIDENCE REVIEW:Case scenarios were interrogated using a modified Delphi consensus method. Melanoma panelists (n = 60) were invited to vote on hypothetical scenarios via an emailed survey (n = 42), which was followed by a consensus conference (n = 51) that reviewed the literature and the rationale for survey answers. Panelists participated in a follow-up survey for final recommendations on the scenarios (n = 45). FINDINGS:The panelists reached consensus (≥70% agreement) in supporting a risk-stratified approach to melanoma screening in clinical settings and public screening events, screening personnel recommendations (self/partner, primary care provider, general dermatologist, and pigmented lesion expert), screening intervals, and acceptable appointment wait times. Participants also reached consensus that visual and dermoscopic examination are sufficient for evaluation and follow-up of melanocytic skin lesions deemed innocuous. The panelists reached consensus on interpreting reflectance confocal microscopy and some but not all results from epidermal tape stripping, but they did not reach consensus on use of certain pigmented lesion evaluation tools, such as electrical impedance spectroscopy. Regarding GEP scores, the panelists reached consensus that a low-risk prognostic GEP score should not outweigh concerning histologic features when selecting patients to undergo sentinel lymph node biopsy but did not reach consensus on imaging recommendations in the setting of a high-risk prognostic GEP score and low-risk histology and/or negative nodal status. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:For this consensus statement, panelists reached consensus on aspects of a risk-stratified approach to melanoma screening and follow-up as well as use of visual examination and dermoscopy. These findings support a practical approach to diagnosing and evaluating CM. Panelists did not reach consensus on a clearly defined role for GEP testing in clinical decision-making, citing the need for additional studies to establish the clinical use of existing GEP assays.

BACKGROUND:Primary care providers (PCPs) frequently address dermatologic concerns and perform skin examinations during clinical encounters. For PCPs who evaluate concerning skin lesions, dermoscopy (a noninvasive skin visualization technique) has been shown to increase the sensitivity for skin cancer diagnosis compared with unassisted clinical examinations. Because no formal consensus existed on the fundamental knowledge and skills that PCPs should have with respect to dermoscopy for skin cancer detection, the objective of this study was to develop an expert consensus statement on proficiency standards for PCPs learning or using dermoscopy. METHODS:A 2-phase modified Delphi method was used to develop 2 proficiency standards. In the study's first phase, a focus group of PCPs and dermatologists generated a list of dermoscopic diagnoses and associated features. In the second phase, a larger panel evaluated the proposed list and determined whether each diagnosis was reflective of a foundational or intermediate proficiency or neither. RESULTS:Of the 35 initial panelists, 5 PCPs were lost to follow-up or withdrew; 30 completed the fifth and last round. The final consensus-based list contained 39 dermoscopic diagnoses and associated features. CONCLUSIONS:This consensus statement will inform the development of PCP-targeted dermoscopy training initiatives designed to support early cancer detection.

Introduction: Nevisense is a non-invasive device that measures electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of individual skin lesions to aid in the diagnosis of melanoma. While EIS has demonstrated high sensitivity in diagnosing melanoma, its impact on a clinician"™s diagnostic confi dence remains unknown. Objective: To conduct a pilot study to evaluate whether clinician diagnostic confidence, sensitivity, specificity and accuracy can be increased by adding EIS measurement scores to clinical and dermoscopic images of lesions clinically suspicious for melanoma. Methods: Three pigmented lesions specialists and three 4^th year medical students completed an online survey to evaluate 34 melanocytic lesions suspicious for melanoma. For each lesion, participants provided their diagnosis, biopsy recommendation, and confidence in diagnosing a lesion as benign or malignant based on history and clinical and dermoscopic images, and again after receiving an EIS score. Results: Addition of EIS scores increased mean biopsy sensitivity for melanoma/severely dysplastic nevi from 70% to 84% (p =.014) and mean diagnostic accuracy from 74% to 86% (p =.005). Mean diagnostic confidence increased for all histopathologic categories for both students and dermatologists (all p <.05). Conclusions: In this pilot study, EIS increased novice and expert diagnosticians"™ confidence regarding dermoscopically equivocal melanocytic lesions. Further studies are needed to explore how EIS can help clinicians reassure patients regarding the management of clinically dysplastic melanocytic nevi.

BACKGROUND:MoleMap NZ is a novel New Zealand based store-and-forward telemedicine service to detect melanoma. It utilizes expert review of total body photography and close-up and dermoscopic images of skin lesions suspicious for malignancy. OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of MoleMap NZ as a melanoma early detection program. METHODS:We conducted a review of 2,108 melanocytic lesions recommended for biopsy/excision by MoleMap NZ dermoscopists from January 2015-December 2016. RESULTS:Pathologic diagnoses were available for 1,571 lesions. Of these, 1,303 (83%) lesions were benign and 260 (17%) lesions were diagnosed as melanoma, for a melanoma-specific benign-to-malignant ratio of 5.0 to 1. The number-needed-to-biopsy one melanoma was 6. Among melanomas with available tumor thickness data (n=137), 92% were <0.8mm (range: in situ - 3.1mm), with in-situ melanomas comprising 74%. LIMITATIONS/CONCLUSIONS:Only lesions recommended for excision were analyzed. Pathology results were available for 75% of these cases. Tumor thickness data was available for 53% of melanomas diagnosed. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:This real-world study of MoleMap NZ, a community-based teledermoscopy program, suggests that it has the potential to increase patients' access to specialist expertise via telemedicine. Additional studies are needed to more accurately define its efficacy.

Nevisense is an FDA-cleared device to aid in diagnosing melanoma. Using a non-invasive probe, the device measures electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of target skin lesions. While EIS has demonstrated high sensitivity in diagnosing melanoma, its impact on a clinician's diagnostic confidence remains unknown. We conducted a pilot study evaluating whether the addition of EIS scores to clinical and dermoscopic images increases diagnostic confidence, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for students and dermatologists when evaluating lesions clinically suspicious for melanoma. Three pigmented lesions specialists and three 4^th year medical students completed an online survey to evaluate 34 melanocytic lesions suspicious for melanoma. For each lesion, participants provided their diagnosis, biopsy recommendation, and confidence in diagnosing a lesion as benign or malignant based on history and clinical and dermoscopic images, and again after receiving an EIS score. Addition of EIS scores increased mean biopsy sensitivity for melanoma/severe dysplastic nevi (DN) from 70% to 84% (p =.014) and mean diagnostic accuracy from 74% to 86% (p =.005). Mean diagnostic confidence increased for 29/34 lesions, of which 26 were accurately diagnosed by >=4 evaluators. Increases in diagnostic confidence were significant for common melanocytic nevi, DN, and melanoma, for both students and dermatologists (all p <.05). Use of EIS may increase clinicians' confidence to provide greater reassurance regarding dermoscopically equivocal lesions such as DN. EIS thus has the potential to help clinicians better alleviate patients' anxieties during skin exams. EIS may also improve management of melanocytic lesions suspicious for melanoma among novice and expert diagnosticians, though further investigation is needed to determine if these findings translate to clinical settings. NB: All authors except for Ms. Fried are team members for a separate study utilizing a Nevisense device, loaned to NYU by Scibase.
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