TY - JOUR
T1 - Early diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma
T2 - Revisiting the ABCD criteria
AU - Abbasi, Naheed R.
AU - Shaw, Helen M.
AU - Rigel, Darrell S.
AU - Friedman, Robert J.
AU - McCarthy, William H.
AU - Osman, Iman
AU - Kopf, Alfred W.
AU - Polsky, David
PY - 2004/12/8
Y1 - 2004/12/8
N2 - Context: The incidence of cutaneous melanoma has increased over the past several decades, making its early diagnosis a continuing public health priority. The ABCD (Asymmetry, Border irregularity, Color variegation, Diameter >6 mm) acronym for the appraisal of cutaneous pigmented lesions was devised in 1985 and has been widely adopted but requires reexamination in light of recent data regarding the existence of small-diameter (≤6 mm) melanomas. Evidence Acquisition: Cochrane Library and PubMed searches for the period 1980-2004 were conducted using search terms ABCD and melanoma and small-diameter melanoma. Bibliographies of retrieved articles were also used to identify additional relevant information. Evidence Synthesis: Available data do not support the utility of lowering the diameter criterion of ABCD from the current greater than 6 mm guideline. However, the data support expansion to ABCDE to emphasize the significance of evolving pigmented lesions in the natural history of melanoma. Physicians and patients with nevi should be attentive to changes (evolving) of size, shape, symptoms (itching, tenderness), surface (especially bleeding), and shades of color. Conclusions: The ABCD criteria for the gross inspection of pigmented skin lesions and early diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma should be expanded to ABCDE (to include "evolving"). No change to the existing diameter criterion is required at this time.
AB - Context: The incidence of cutaneous melanoma has increased over the past several decades, making its early diagnosis a continuing public health priority. The ABCD (Asymmetry, Border irregularity, Color variegation, Diameter >6 mm) acronym for the appraisal of cutaneous pigmented lesions was devised in 1985 and has been widely adopted but requires reexamination in light of recent data regarding the existence of small-diameter (≤6 mm) melanomas. Evidence Acquisition: Cochrane Library and PubMed searches for the period 1980-2004 were conducted using search terms ABCD and melanoma and small-diameter melanoma. Bibliographies of retrieved articles were also used to identify additional relevant information. Evidence Synthesis: Available data do not support the utility of lowering the diameter criterion of ABCD from the current greater than 6 mm guideline. However, the data support expansion to ABCDE to emphasize the significance of evolving pigmented lesions in the natural history of melanoma. Physicians and patients with nevi should be attentive to changes (evolving) of size, shape, symptoms (itching, tenderness), surface (especially bleeding), and shades of color. Conclusions: The ABCD criteria for the gross inspection of pigmented skin lesions and early diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma should be expanded to ABCDE (to include "evolving"). No change to the existing diameter criterion is required at this time.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=10344242954&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1001/jama.292.22.2771
DO - 10.1001/jama.292.22.2771
M3 - Review article
C2 - 15585738
AN - SCOPUS:10344242954
SN - 0098-7484
VL - 292
SP - 2771
EP - 2776
JO - JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association
JF - JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association
IS - 22
ER -