Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma: A Review of Early Diagnosis and Management

Abstract

Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is a malignant tumor formed from pigment-producing cells called melanocytes. It is one of the most aggressive and fatal forms of skin malignancy. In the last decades, CM's incidence has gradually risen, with 351,880 new cases in 2015. Since the 1960s, its incidence has increased steadily, in 2019, with approximately 96,000 new cases. A greater understanding of early diagnosis and management of CM is urgently needed because of the high mortality rates due to metastatic melanoma. Timely detection of melanoma is crucial for successful treatment, but diagnosis with histopathology may also pose a significant challenge to this objective. Early diagnosis and management are essential and contribute to better survival rates of the patient. To better control this malignancy, such information is expected to be particularly useful in the early detection of possible metastatic lesions and the development of new therapeutic approaches. This article reviews the available information on the early diagnosis and management of CM and discusses such information's potential in facilitating the future prospective.

World J Oncol. 2021;12(1):7-19
doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/wjon1349