Benign and Malignant Neoplasms of Skin Flashcards
Benign Cutaneous Neoplasms
•All adults have benign cutaneous neoplasms•As varied as they are common•Most never come to medical attention•Concerns may be cosmetic or suspicious for skin cancer•Proper training enables proper triage
Seborrheic Keratosis
- Common
- Skin-colored, pink, brown
- Stuck on appearance, raised on top of the skin
- Sign of Leser Trelat•Abrupt appearance of multiple lesions•Rare paraneoplastic phenomenon•Stomach, colon cancer
Seborrheic Keratosis
Dermatosis Papulosa Nigra
- Variant of seborrheic keratosis
- Common in Black and Asian patients
- Etiology unclear, ~ 50% have family history
- Face and neck
Verruca Vulgaris
- Caused by HPV
- >150 types infect the skin or mucosa, most cause benign papillomas or warts
- Anogenital warts (condyloma acuminata) is a highly prevalent STI caused by HPV-6 or -11 (low-risk types)
- High-risk types, HPV-16,-18, are major cause of cervical/anal cancers
- Immunosuppressed patients are at higher risk of worse infection
- Treatment: destruction modalities and imiquimod•Highly effective prophylactic HPV vaccines are available
Verruca Vulgaris
Infantile Hemangioma
- Most common benign soft tissue tumor of infancy
- Growth pattern: precursor lesion may be present at birth; early proliferation (through 2 months of age); gradual, spontaneous involution (by age 10)
- May be associated with extracutaneous findings when occurring at certain anatomic sites (e.g., the face, neck, lumbosacral area)
- Residual skin changes (e.g., scarring, atrophy, etc) may persist after involution is complete
- Treatment: topical timolol for small, superficial lesions; systemic β-blockers for complicated lesions
Infantile Hemangioma
Cherry Angioma
•A common, benign lesion found in most individuals by the age of 60 years, often in large numbers•Red, dome-shaped papules up to several millimeters in diameter that begin appearing during adult life, most commonly on the trunk and upper extremities•Consist of dilated, congested capillaries and postcapillary venules within the papillary dermis
Glomus tumor
•Originates from cells of the glomus body (a normal AV shunt supplied with nerve fibers, serves a temperature-regulating function)•Glomus bodies are highly concentrated in fingertips•Most common on hands and subungual region•Subungual lesions are painful•Small reddish or bluish papule
Nevus
- Proliferation of melanocytes•Majority appear within first two decades of life•Factors related to development:
- Heredity•Degree of sun-exposure in childhood•Skin-type
- Mean number in White teens approx 15-25 vs < 5 in skin of color
- Many different types of nevi
Types of Nevi
A junctional nevus is a brown to black macule with melanocytic nests at the junction of the epidermis and dermis
A compound nevus is a brown papule with combined histologic features of junctional and intradermal nevi
An intradermal nevus is a skin-colored or light brown papule with nests of melanocytes in the dermis
Acral Nevus
Blue Nevus
Blue color due to location deep in the dermis (Tyndall effect)
Halo nevus
•Zone of depigmentation surrounding nevus•Immune response against nevus cells•Melanoma undergoing regression may appear white or grey
Congenital Nevus
•Present at birth or develops shortly after•Small•<1.5 cm in diameter (in adults)•Medium:•between 1.5 and 20 cm in diameter (in adults)•Large and giant congenital nevi•>20 to 40 cm and >40 cm in diameter (in adults), respectively•Significantly higher risk for developing melanoma than do ordinary nevi
Nevus Spilus
•Tan patch with superimposed “speckles” that develop over time•Darker macules and papules vary from lentigines (sun spots) to junctional and compound nevi to Spitz and blue nevi•Small risk of cutaneous melanoma
Monitoring of Nevi
•Growth of lesion•Large lesion•Change in color•Several colors•Irregular borders•Itching•Tenderness•Bleeding•Irritation
Melanoma Epidemiology
•Accounts for <5% all skin cancers, but majority of skin cancer related deaths•Incidence increasing faster than any other cancer•More than 20 times more common in Whites than Blacks•Lifetime risk of development•2.6% (1 in 38) for Whites•0.1% (1 in 1,000) for Blacks•0.58% (1 in 172) for Hispanic•Average age at diagnosis is 65 years•One of the most common cancers in young women