CURRENT APPROACH ON CUTANEOUS MELANOMA DIAGNOSTICS

Melanoma is on the first place in mortality among all skin tumors. Over the past 50 years, there has been a steady increase in the incidence of cutaneous melanoma compared to other types of tumors. Rates of 5-year survival are fairly high, if melanoma is diagnosed in the early stages, which requires adequate diagnostics and treatment. Melanoma diagnostic, especially in the early stages, can be problematic even for an experienced dermatologist. However, primary contact doctor can be any specialty. Melanoma and other skin tumors can be detected by physical examination during treatment for another disease. Phenotypic risks factors, anamnestic data, and physical examination data are important in cutaneous melanoma diagnostics. The sensitivity of clinical diagnosis during a visual examination by an experienced dermatologist is approximately 70 percent. However, dermascopy can significantly increase the accuracy of a clinical diagnostics. In recent years there has been an active research for new non-invasive methods and algorithms for cutaneous melanoma diagnostics. The main goal of non-invasive diagnostics is to determine need for biopsy. This decision should be based on a combination of clinical and dermascopic examinations and other information, including growth dynamics, symptoms and medical history. Thus, an adequate diagnostic of cutaneous melanoma, including non-invasive and invasive methods, is a simple and economically viable way to early detection of cutaneous melanoma and to reduce mortality from this aggressive disease.