Early Recognition at Last

Examination of skin lesions for cancer: Which clinical decision aids and tools are available in general practice?

“…A later amendment suggested adding an E for evolving (change in size, shape, surface, colour or sensation over time) [30]. Although some state that the D-criterion hinders the early detection of melanoma [31], as melanomas may be smaller than 6 mm [32][33][34], a large study of pigmented skin lesions revealed a clear increase in the percentage of melanomas once the limit of 6 mm was exceeded, concluding that the guideline of 6 mm is indeed useful [35]. An advantage of the ABCD criteria is that it makes it easier to distinguish between typical benign naevi and melanomas.…”

High-definition optical coherence tomography imaging of melanocytic lesions: a pilot study

“…Clinical diagnosis may be difficult, and although dermoscopy is routinely used by many, melanoma may even lack dermoscopic hallmarks in some patients [11, 15, 30]. New methods for diagnosis of melanoma are therefore continuously being developed [1].…”

Teaching dermatoscopy of pigmented skin tumours to novices: comparison of analytic vs. heuristic approach

“…Dermatoscopy is the mainstay of diagnosing pigmented skin lesions by proving its usefulness in multiple meta‐analyses and is used by dermatologists as well as primary care physicians . Therefore, the method is not only useful for dermatology residents but dermatoscopy may also be taught to medical students in the core medical curriculum, just as using the stethoscope.…”