Lentigo maligna: Clinical management and histopathological diagnosis

Lentigo maligna is a disease usually seen on sun-exposed skin in the elderly population. Usually it is situated on the face which contains anatomical and cosmetic critical structures. The reason it is treated is to prevent progression to lentigo maligna melanoma. The chance of progression is low at an estimated cumulative risk of 2-2.6% over the course of 25 years. The first part of this thesis covers the effectiveness of non-surgical treatment using local topical imiquimod 5% cream. The second part describes the utilization of the Cancer/Testis antigens as diagnostic markers to differentiate sun-exposed skin, lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma. The last part describes the profile of patients with metastatic lentigo maligna melanoma.