Dermatológia pre prax 3/2020

Malignant melanoma – clinical image, diagnosis and treatment

Malignant melanoma holds the 19th rank among all oncological diseases in the world. It accounts for approximately 4% of all skin tumors and is one of the most aggressive cancers with relatively rapid lymphatic and blood system metastases to distant organs. The genetic predisposition of an individual together with the environmental impact plays an important role in the development of malignant melanoma. The diagnosis of malignant melanoma consists of clinical, dermatoscopic and histopathological examination. Treatment depends on the stage of the disease; in case of low-risk melanomas surgical therapy is sufficient, whereas high-risk and metastatic melanomas require both surgical and systemic therapy. The most significant factor for survival is the early melanoma detection.

Keywords: malignant melanoma, etiopathogenesis, epidemiology, diagnostic methods, therapy