Incisional biopsy and melanoma prognosis

Mucosal malignant melanomas in head and neck surgery: a retrospective study of six patients and review of the literature

“…Concerning biopsies in malignant melanomas, dissemination of malignant cells in the tissue, blood, or lymphatic stream is discussed. Bong et al [20], in a retrospective study of 265 patients having an incisional biopsy of cutaneous melanoma and 496 control cases of excisional biopsy, reported no correlation of malignant spreading; and Lederman et al [21] reported similar results.…”

Skin Melanomas Excised by General Practitioners: More Often Unsuspected, of Nodular Type and Less of Often Radically Excised Than Those Excised in an Academic Setting

“…A low index of suspicion will usually lead to a narrow primary excision with a higher risk of irradicality. Although some studies suggest that a primary irradical excision may not influence prognosis [10,11], the general consensus is to refer pigmented lesions with a high index of suspicion to a dermatologist or surgeon for a slightly wider local excision followed by re-excision and sentinel node biopsy [12,13] if indicated. The very fact that such patients are referred leads to an enriched "suspicious" population of lesions for which the academic specialists would inherently more often do more a slightly wider local excision, could also contribute to the higher rate of academic radical excisions.…”

Dermatologists, General Practitioners, and the Best Method to Biopsy Suspect Melanocytic Neoplasms

“…We surmise that it did not, since previous publications have not shown any adverse association between survival and type of biopsy performed. [7][8][9][10] In other words, biopsy technique, per se, does not increase diseasespecific mortality (eg, cutting into the melanoma is not known to increase the risk for dissemination). Rather, one of the risks of a partial biopsy is histopathologic misdiagnosis.…”