Harrison J. Shawa, Marat Kazak, Sara Dahle, Joshua M. Schulman
Amelanotic melanoma, accounting for less than 2% of melanomas, lacks typical clinical features of melanoma and mimics other lesions, frequently resulting in initial misdiagnosis and treatment delays and contributing to a poorer prognosis compared to conventional melanoma.
Amelanotic melanoma affects both men and women and, on average, affects older individuals than conventional melanoma, with an average age at diagnosis of 62 years. Although some risk factors overlap with melanoma, individuals with amelanotic melanoma are more likely to have red hair, freckles, or sunburn easily than patients with pigmented melanoma. Other risk factors include more than 10 large nevi, plantar nevi, and a history of a penetrating foot injury or a previous amelanotic melanoma.
When occurring on acral sites, amelanotic melanoma may mimic a variety of benign entities, including verrucae, calluses, poromas, hematomas, foreign bodies, fungal infections, blisters, ulcers, and pyogenic granulomas. We herein report a case of an acral amelanotic melanoma … read more