On the histological diagnosis and prognosis of malignant melanoma

Abstract

This review deals with difficulties of diagnosis in cutaneous malignant melanoma encountered by histopathologists of variable seniority and is based on referred material at The Royal Marsden Hospital over a 20 yr period and on the experience of more than two and a-half thousand cases referred to The World Health Organization Melanoma Unit which the author reviewed as chairman of the Pathologists' Committee. Though there is reference to the differential diagnosis of primary and metastatic tumor, the main concern is with establishing the diagnosis of primary melanoma to the exclusion of all other lesions. An appendix on recommended diagnostic methods in cutaneous melanomas is included.