Peripheral clods: a compelling clue to melanoma in mature patients
It would be reckless to dismiss the discovery of a lesion with peripheral clods, however tiny
5th December 2018
Every melanoma begins its life as a minute lesion - smaller than can be seen by the naked eye.
An understanding of embryonic lesions has enabled us to diagnose melanomas at much earlier stages. The argument that detecting such small lesions will not impact prognosis is speculative at best and reckless at worst.
Missed diagnoses are forgiving in many cases because the current mortality of patients with invasive melanomas in Australasia (by the time they are finally diagnosed) is only about 15%.
However, many of us have