Prior skin image datasets have not addressed patient-level information obtained from multiple skin lesions from the same patient. Though artificial intelligence classification algorithms have achieved expert-level performance in controlled studies examining single images, in practice dermatologists base their judgment holistically from multiple lesions on the same patient. The 2020 SIIM-ISIC Melanoma Classification challenge dataset described herein was constructed to address this discrepancy between prior challenges and clinical practice, providing for each image in the dataset an identifier allowing lesions from the same patient to be mapped to one another. This patient-level contextual information is frequently used by clinicians to diagnose melanoma and is especially useful in ruling out false positives in patients with many atypical nevi. The dataset represents 2,056 patients (20.8% with at least one melanoma, 79.2% with zero melanomas) from three continents with an average of 16 lesions per patient, consisting of 33,126 dermoscopic images and 584 (1.8%) histopathologically confirmed melanomas compared with benign melanoma mimickers.
Background
The presence of peripheral globules is associated with enlarging melanocytic lesions; however, there are numerous patterns of peripheral globules distribution and it remains unknown whether specific patterns can help differentiate enlarging naevi from melanoma.
Objective
To investigate whether morphological differences exist between the peripheral globules seen in different subsets of naevi and in melanoma.
Methods
A cross‐sectional study of clinical notes that mentioned peripheral globules, in addition to all melanoma images with peripheral globules on the International Skin Imaging Collaboration archive. Dermoscopic images were reviewed and annotated. Associations between diagnosis and categorical features were measured with odds ratios. Non‐parametric tests were used for continuous factors.
Results
184 lesions with peripheral globules from our clinic were included in the analysis; only 6 of these proved to be melanoma. 109 melanomas with peripheral globules from the International Skin Imaging Collaboration archive were added to the analysis. Melanomas were more common on the extremities and among older individuals. Melanomas were more likely to display atypical, tiered and/or focal peripheral globules. Only 5% of melanomas lacked dermoscopic melanoma‐specific structures compared to 48% of naevi.
Conclusions
Melanocytic lesions with atypical or asymmetrically distributed peripheral globules, especially when located on the extremities, should raise suspicion for malignancy. Melanocytic lesions with typical and symmetrically distributed peripheral globules, and with no other concerning dermoscopic features, are unlikely to be malignant.
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