Update on Lentigo Maligna: Diagnostic Signs and Treatment. / El lentigo maligno: actualización y claves en el diagnóstico y el tratamiento.

Lentigo maligna is an in situ cutaneous melanoma that arises in sun-damaged skin. Its most common presentation is a progressive, slow-growing, irregularly pigmented spot on the face of older patients. Although the exact percentage of Lentigo maligna that progresses to invasive tumors is unknown, it is thought to lie between 2% and 5%. Both the clinical and histologic diagnosis of Lentigo maligna can be challenging, especially in patients with early-stage or atypical disease. Treatment also holds challenges, because lesions are located in highly visible areas and are often large. Surgery can thus compromise cosmetic and sometimes functional outcomes. We review clinical and histopathological findings that can facilitate the diagnosis of Lentigo maligna. We also examine treatment options, with a focus on surgery.

Series of Fourteen Cases of Topical Imiquimod 5% in Lentigo Maligna: Treatment Modalities and Clues for Detecting Recurrences. / [Artículo traducido] Serie de 14 casos de tratamiento con imiquimod tópico al 5% en lentigo maligno: modalidades terapéuticas y claves para detectar recidivas.

Topical imiquimod has been used off-label as monotherapy or adjuvant treatment for lentigo maligna. Our aim is to describe treatment modalities, clinical outcomes, and management of recurrence in patients receiving imiquimod for lentigo maligna. Patients from our unit with lentigo maligna or lentigo maligna melanoma treated with imiquimod 5% as monotherapy or in combination with surgery were included in this study. Fourteen cases were recruited (85.7% lentigo maligna and 14.3% lentigo maligna melanoma). Eight patients (57.1%) received imiquimod without surgery, and six (42.9%) underwent narrow excision before beginning treatment. During the follow-up period, pigmentation reappeared in 6 patients (4 postinflammatory hyperpigmentation and 2 relapses). Relapses were managed with very narrow excision (1 mm margin) and retreatment with imiquimod 5%. All imiquimod modalities showed well-tolerated side effects and low recurrence rates, with long periods of follow-up. Imiquimod appears to be a versatile option for treating LM in suitable candidates.

Series of Fourteen Cases of Topical Imiquimod 5% in Lentigo Maligna: Treatment Modalities and Clues for Detecting Recurrences.

Topical imiquimod has been used off-label as monotherapy or adjuvant treatment for lentigo maligna. Our aim is to describe treatment modalities, clinical outcomes, and management of recurrence in patients receiving imiquimod for lentigo maligna. Patients from our unit with lentigo maligna or lentigo maligna melanoma treated with imiquimod 5% as monotherapy or in combination with surgery were included in this study. Fourteen cases were recruited (85.7% lentigo maligna and 14.3% lentigo maligna melanoma). Eight patients (57.1%) received imiquimod without surgery, and six (42.9%) underwent narrow excision before beginning treatment. During the follow-up period, pigmentation reappeared in 6 patients (4 postinflammatory hyperpigmentation and 2 relapses). Relapses were managed with very narrow excision (1mm margin) and retreatment with imiquimod 5%. All imiquimod modalities showed well-tolerated side effects and low recurrence rates, with long periods of follow-up. Imiquimod appears to be a versatile option for treating LM in suitable candidates.

Extrafacial Lentigo Maligna: A Report on 14 Cases and a Review of the Literature. / Lentigo maligno extrafacial. Serie de 14 casos y revisión de la literatura.

Lentigo maligna is the most common form of in situ melanoma. It is most often found on the head and neck, and its clinical and dermoscopic features in this location have been extensively described in the literature. We present a series of 14 patients diagnosed with extrafacial lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma at Hospital General de Valencia and Hospital de Manacor in Spain, and describe the clinical, dermoscopic, and histologic features observed. Most of the melanomas were located on the upper limbs; the next most common locations were the trunk and the lower limbs. The dermoscopic patterns were consistent with facial lentigo maligna and superficial spreading melanoma. Extrafacial lentigo maligna is uncommon. It has similar clinical and histologic features to facial lentigo, but dermoscopy may show a mix of patterns typically seen in lentigo maligna and superficial spreading melanoma. This difference in dermoscopic features is essentially due to anatomical differences between skin on the face and on other parts of the body.

Lentigo Maligna: Keys to Dermoscopic Diagnosis. / Lentigo maligno. Claves en el diagnóstico dermatoscópico.

Dermoscopy is a noninvasive technique that improves accuracy in the diagnosis of cutaneous lesions. The recognition and differential diagnosis of lentigo maligna (LM) and lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM) is challenging, especially in the early stages when there are no distinctive clinical features. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment can improve prognosis. Several dermoscopic features have been described for LM and LMM. The following 4 criteria in combination have achieved a diagnostic sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 96%: asymmetric pigmented follicular openings, dark rhomboidal structures, slate gray dots, and slate gray globules. A biopsy is warranted when dermoscopic examination reveals a grayish coloring. For a flat pigmented lesion acquired in adulthood, a histopathological diagnosis of "atypical junctional nevus" is not to be accepted uncritically. LM and LMM can also appear in sites other than the face, and dermoscopy can facilitate their recognition. Dermoscopy is an essential tool for physical examination.

Reflectance Confocal Microscopy in Lentigo Maligna. / La microscopía confocal de reflectancia en el lentigo maligno.

Lentigo maligna is the most common type of facial melanoma. Diagnosis is complicated, however, as it shares clinical and dermoscopic characteristics with other cutaneous lesions of the face. Reflectance confocal microscopy is an imaging technique that permits the visualization of characteristic features of lentigo maligna. These include a disrupted honeycomb pattern and pagetoid cells with a tendency to show folliculotropism. These cells typically have a dendritic morphology, although they may also appear as round cells measuring over 20µm with atypical nuclei. Poorly defined dermal papillae and atypical cells may be seen at the dermal-epidermal junction and can form bridges resembling mitochondrial structures. Other characteristic findings include junctional swelling with atypical cells located around the follicles, resembling caput medusae. Reflectance confocal microscopy is a very useful tool for diagnosing lentigo maligna.

Clinical usefulness of reflectance confocal microscopy in the management of facial lentigo maligna melanoma.

Facial lentigo maligna melanoma can be a diagnostic challenge in daily clinical practice as it has similar clinical and morphological features to other lesions such as solar lentigines and pigmented actinic keratoses. Confocal microscopy is a noninvasive technique that provides real-time images of the epidermis and superficial dermis with cellular-level resolution. We describe 3 cases of suspected facial lentigo maligna that were assessed using dermoscopy and confocal microscopy before histopathology study. In the first case, diagnosed as lentigo maligna melanoma, presurgical mapping by confocal microscopy was performed to define the margins more accurately. In the second and third cases, with a clinical and dermoscopic suspicion of lentigo maligna melanoma, confocal microscopy was used to identify the optimal site for biopsy.

Lentigo maligna.

Lentigo maligna is a type of in situ melanoma. It develops mainly in middle-aged and elderly individuals on areas of the skin chronically exposed to sunlight. It progresses to its invasive form, lentigo maligna melanoma, in 5% to 50% of cases. Management of lentigo maligna is open to debate, with a notable lack of randomized trials and specific guidelines and protocols. Early diagnosis and treatment is necessary to achieve cure if possible and prevent progression to invasive melanoma with the corresponding risk of metastasis. The treatment of choice for lentigo maligna is surgery. When surgery is not possible, other alternatives are available although outcomes and rates of recurrence are variable. The objective of this study was to review the diagnostic methods and criteria for lentigo maligna, as well as the different surgical options and alternatives to surgery, in order to provide information on the best approach in each case.

Cutaneous Head and Neck Melanoma: Changes in Clinical and Histologic Features From 1995 to 2015 in a Tertiary Hospital in Madrid, Spain. / Melanoma cutáneo de cabeza y cuello: evolución de las características clínico-patológicas en un hospital terciario de Madrid (1995-2015).

OBJECTIVES: Few epidemiological studies have analyzed cutaneous head and neck melanoma (CHNM) in the Spanish population. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical and histologic features of a representative sample of CHNM in Spain and to analyze changes observed over a period of 21 years. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study of 280 patients diagnosed with CHNM at Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón in Madrid, Spain, between January 1, 1995, and December 31, 2015. The main clinical and histologic features were analyzed and compared between 3 periods: 1995-2001, 2002-2008, and 2009-2015. RESULTS: Mean age at diagnosis was 71.3 years (median, 74 years; interquartile range [IQR], 65-81 years). The most common location was the face, followed by the scalp. The main histologic subtype was lentigo maligna (n=172, 64%). Mean tumor thickness was 1.6 mm (median, 0.4mm; IQR, 0-2.1mm). Median follow-up was 111 months; in this time 51 patients experienced CHNM recurrence (18.2%) and 29 died of the disease (10.4%). In the years analyzed, we observed a significant increase in the number and percentage of patients aged 75 years or older (P=.001) and in the percentage of melanomas in situ (P=.003). We also observed a significant decrease in mean tumor thickness (P=.018), the number of cases with 6 or more mitotic figures (P=.013), the percentage of patients with metastasis (P=.014), and melanoma-specific mortality (P=.005). CONCLUSIONS: CHNM affects elderly patients and is preferentially located on the face. The predominant subtype is lentigo maligna. Patients presented with thinner tumors over time and are now less likely to develop metastasis and to die of melanoma.

Melanoma lentigo maligno amelanótico / Amelanotic lentigo maligna melanoma

RESUMEN El melanoma lentigo maligno es un subtipo de melanoma invasor, que se localiza en áreas fotodañadas de cara y cuello, manifestándose como una mácula no muy definida, de varios colores de la gama del marrón y negro. La variante amelanótica es infrecuente en cualquiera de los subtipos cutáneos de melanoma. Presentamos el caso de una mujer de 63 años, que presentó un melanoma lentigo maligno de subtipo amelanótico y de localización infrecuente, en miembro inferior.

SUMMARY Lentigomalignamelanoma is a subtype of invasive melanoma, located in photodamaged skin, particularly of the face and neck. It appears as an ill- defined macula, of heterogeneous color, ranging from brown to black. The amelanotic variant is infrequent in any of the cutaneous melanoma subtypes. We report the case of a 63-year-old woman with amelanoticlentigomaligna melanoma, located in her lower right limb.

Cirugía micrográfica de Mohs y técnica del espagueti para melanoma in situ de cabeza y cuello / Melanoma in situ of the head and neck treated with Mohs surgeryor “spaghetti technique”

Antecedentes: el lentigo maligno (LM) es un subtipo de melanoma in situ (MMis) que ocurre en áreas fotoexpuestas de cabeza y cuello (CC) de pacientes añosos. El margen quirúrgico necesario para su resección no fue confirmado por estudios controlados-randomizados.Existen distintas técnicas para el estudio histológico exhaustivo de márgenes: cirugía de Mohs (CMM), slow Mohs (SM), staged excision (SE) y técnica del espagueti (TE). Objetivo: describir las características epidemiológicas, clínicas, tratamiento y evolución de pacientes con MMis-CC tratados por nuestro grupo con CMM y TE. Diseño: estudio descriptivo, observacional y retrospectivo. Métodos: se analizó edad, sexo, histología, tratamiento y evolución de 103 MMis-CC en 102 pacientes, tratados entre 6/1996 y 6/2014. Resultados: edad promedio: 66 años. Mujeres: 54,4%. Anatomía patológica: LM: 63 y MMis: 40. Tratamiento previo: 25,2%. En 36 casos se empleó CMM (los primeros 20 en tejidos frescos y desde diciembre de 2009 en parafina (SM)). Desde mayo de 2011 (67 casos) se empleó TE. En el 86,4% fue necesaria 1 capa de Mohs, en 10 pacientes: 2 capas, en 3: 3 y en 1: 4. Se conoce la evolución de 101/102 pacientes, media de seguimiento:27,7 meses. A un paciente con lesión muy extensa que no completó la cirugía se lo excluyó del análisis de recidivas. Observamos 1 (0,99%) recidiva. Tasa de control de la enfermedad:99%. Conclusiones: las técnicas con control exhaustivo de márgenes para el tratamiento del MMis-CC son altamente eficaces, permiten preservar tejido sano en zonas de gran importanciafuncional y estética.

Background: lentigomaligna (LM) is a subtype of in situ melanoma (isMM)deberia serMIS. It usually occurs in sun-exposed areas of the head and neck (HN) of elderly patients.Safe surgical margins after removal were not confirmed by randomized and controlledstudies. There are different techniques for histological study of margins: Mohs surgery(MS), slow Mohs (SM), "staged excision" (SE) and spaghetti technique (ST).Objective: to describe epidemiological, clinical, treatment and outcome of patients withisMM-HN treated by our group using MS and ST.Design: descriptive, observational and retrospective study.Methods: we analyzed age, sex, histology, treatment and outcome of 103 isMM-HN in102 patients treated between 6/96 and 6/14.Results: mean age: 66 years. Women: 54.4%. Pathology: LM: 63 and isMM: 40. Previoustreatment:25.2%. MS in 36 cases (the first 20 with fresh tissue technique, and since12/09 with paraffin sections (SM)). Since 5/11 (67 cases) ST was preferred. In 86.4%, 1layer was necessary, 2 layers: 10, 3 layers: 3 and 4 layers: 1 patients. Known evolution:99% (102/103) with a median follow up of 27.7 months. A patient with an extensivelesion did not complete the surgery, and was excluded from the recurrence analysis. Weobserved 1 (0.99%) recurrence. Control of disease rate: 99%.Conclusions: the detailed margin-control techniques for the treatment of LM are highlyeffective, enabling to preserve healthy tissue at high functional and aesthetic importanceareas.