Majority of Melanomas Arise From New Lesions, Not Existing Moles

HealthDay News — The majority of melanomas arise from new lesions rather than existing moles, according to a review published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.¹

Researchers conducted a review of 38 previously published medical studies involving 20,126 melanomas.

The findings showed that only 29.1% of the skin cancers started in moles patients already had, while 70.9% arose as new lesions on the skin.

“In conclusion, in this systematic review and meta-analysis we found that less than one-third of melanomas were nevus-associated and that nevus-associated melanomas were less thick than de novo melanomas,” the authors write.

“Among nevus-associated melanomas, we found no significant differences in the distribution of dysplastic and nondysplastic remnants.”

Reference

1. Pampena R, Kyrgidis A, Lallas A, Moscarella E, Argenziano G, Longo C. A meta-analysis of nevus-associated melanoma: prevalence and practical implications [published online August 22, 2017]. J Am Acad Dermatol. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2017.06.149