Histopathological diagnosis of acral lentiginous melanoma in early stages

Abstract

Acral lentiginous melanoma is a rare variant of melanoma that is associated with a relatively low survival rate. The latter is partly due to the advanced stage in which the tumor is usually diagnosed. The diagnostic delay is mainly due to difficulties in identifying the very early histopathological signs of acral melanoma. The current article is a review of diagnostic clues, concepts, and definitions from the literature, as well as illustrating examples from our own archives. We have sought to provide an article that can be easily consulted in difficult cases of acral lentiginous melanoma.

Keywords: Acral lentiginous melanoma; Acral lentigo; Acral melanoctic nevus; Early melanoma; Melanoma of the nail unit.