Malignant lesions

Question 1

What is melanoma?

Answer 1

Malignant neoplasms of melanocytic origin that arises from a benign melanocytic lesion or de novo melanocytes

Question 2

What is considered a major causative factor of melanoma?

Answer 2

UV radiation

Question 3

Is acute sun damage or chronic sun exposure a greater causative factor in melanoma?

Answer 3

acute sun damage

Question 4

What are risk factors of melanoma?

Answer 4

Light skin and hair

tendency to burn easily

history of painful or blistering sunburns during childhood

indoor occupation

hx of dysplastic congenital nevus

Question 5

How common is melanoma among skin cancers?

Answer 5

3rd most common

Question 6

How fatal is melanoma compared to other skin cancers?

Answer 6

most deaths due to skin cancer caused by melanoma

Question 7

A high proportion of melanomas posses mutations in what gene?

Answer 7

BRAF gene

Question 8

What pathway is the BRAF gene involved in?

Answer 8

Ras-Raf-ERK signaling pathway

Question 9

What are the ABCDE clinical features of melanoma?

Answer 9

Asymmetry

Border Irregularity

Color Variation

Diameter greater than 6mm

Evolving

Question 10

What is the most common form of melanoma?

Answer 10

superficial spreading melanoma

Question 11

Where do nodular melanomas most commonly occur?

Answer 11

Head and neck

Question 12

How do nodular melanoma lesions appear?

Answer 12

deeply pigmented exophytic lesion

Question 13

What is the precursor of lentigo maligna melanoma?

Answer 13

precursor lesion is lentigo maligna or Hutchinson’s freckle

Question 14

Lentigo maligna melanoma is almost exclusively found in what population?

Answer 14

Sun exposed skin of fair complexioned older adults particularly in the mid facial region

Question 15

Lentigo melanoma histologically represents what kind of melanoma?

Answer 15

melanoma in situ in a purely radial growth phase

Question 16

What is the most common form of melanoma in african americans?

Answer 16

Acral lentiginous melanoma

Question 17

What is the most common oral melanoma?

Answer 17

Acral lentiginous melanoma

Question 18

How is superfical spreading melanoma histopathologically characterized during its radial growth phase?

Answer 18

Characterized by spread of atypical melanocytes along the basilar portion of the epidermis.

Individual melanocytes will also invade the higher levels of the epithelium (normally only in stratum basale)

Question 19

How is acral lentiginous melanoma histopathologically characterized during its radial growth phase?

Answer 19

numerous atypical melanocytes in the basilar portion of the epithelium

Melanocyte invasion into the superficial lamina propria

Question 20

What factor is important in determining the prognosis of melanoma?

Answer 20

Depth of the invasion is an important component of the hisopathologic evaluation

Question 21

What is the Clark System of Measurement?

Answer 21

Assigns a level to the lesion that depends on the deepest anatomic cutaneous region invaded by the tumor.

Question 22

What is the Breslow Classification?

Answer 22

More accurate

based on the measurement of the distance from the top of the granular cell layers to the deepest part

Question 23

What area of melanoma has the worst prognosis?

Answer 23

BANS

Back

posterior Arm

posterior and lateral Neck

Scalp

Question 24

Is overall prognosis of melanoma bad or good?

Answer 24

extremely poor