Dermoscopy and the Early Melanoma Concept

ABSTRACT

Dermoscopy has enabled the detection of increasingly subtle melanocytic lesions and has contributed to a marked rise in early melanoma diagnoses. However, this shift has not been matched by a proportional reduction in mortality, raising the question of whether all lesions currently classified as early melanoma are biologically meaningful. Part of the problem lies in the definition itself. “Early melanoma” is often treated as a uniform entity, yet it likely includes lesions with widely different biological trajectories. Dermoscopy, based on the recognition of morphological patterns, does not access this biological dimension. It captures structure, not behavior and therefore operates within an inherent limitation: atypia does not necessarily equate to clinically relevant malignancy. In practice, lesions may appear suspicious yet remain unchanged over time, while others evolve. This simple observation introduces a critical dimension that static assessment cannot capture. Stability challenges the significance of atypia, while change raises concern—but neither fully resolves the underlying uncertainty. Dermoscopy, therefore, does not diagnose early melanoma in a definitive sense. It identifies lesions that warrant attention within a biologically heterogeneous spectrum. Sequential observation does not eliminate ambiguity, but places it in context, where time becomes part of the evaluation rather than an afterthought. The key issue may not be how early melanoma can be detected, but how to distinguish lesions that will evolve from those that will not.

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