REVIEW  PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF SKIN CANCER PATIENTS 

Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2017 June;152(3):266-9

DOI: 10.23736/S0392-0488.17.05569-9

Copyright © 2017 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

MELTUMP: how to manage these lesions in the clinical routine

Vincenzo PICCOLO ¹, Elvira MOSCARELLA ^{1, 2}, Aimilios LALLAS ³, Roberto ALFANO ⁴, Gerardo FERRARA ⁵, Giuseppe ARGENZIANO ¹ ✉

¹ Dermatology Unit, L. Vanvitelli University, Naples, Italy; ² Dermatology and Skin Cancer Unit, Arcispedale S. Maria Nuova Institute for Research and Care, Reggio Emilia, Italy; ³ First Department of Dermatology, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece; ⁴ Department of Anesthesiology, Surgery and Emergency, L. Vanvitelli University, Naples, Italy; ⁵ Anatomic Pathology Unit, General Hospital of Macerata, Macerata, Italy

Although most melanocytic lesions can be diagnosed by histopathologists as benign or malignant with high confidence, a subset of morphologically ambiguous lesions does exist and still represents a significant problem for pathologists. These lesions have been defined as MELTUMP, i.e. melanocytic tumors of uncertain malignant potential. MELTUMP could be considered as a large cauldron in which melanocytic lesions with equivocal morphologic features fall into, including most benign lesions and a minority of melanomas, unfortunately recognizable only a posteriori for their unfavorable outcome. As a consequence of the lack of uniformity in the biologic behavior of melanocytic lesions belonging to the heterogeneous subset of MELTUMP, confusion and lack of agreement in the management of these difficult lesions is increasingly growing up. As most MELTUMP have a favorable prognosis we recommend a conservative approach, avoiding over treatment for this group of lesions.

KEY WORDS: Epithelioid and spindle cell nevus - Pigmented nevus - Skin neoplasms