atypical mole removed, question?
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hello, Last year I was diagnosed with the following melanoma.
Breslow .5mm
clark level III
features of regression prominent
no evidence of ulceration
no dermal mitoses identified
Note: the margins of the specimen appear to be clear in the plane of section.
They did a WLE. Six months later I went back and the Dr. did not remove a mole. I went back today for my 1 year appointment. All was well until they removed a mole that looked atypical. He said it did not have the signs of melanoma, but with patients that had melanoma, he likes to be cautious. So he just removed the mole and will sent it off for biopsy. So…
What can I expect next? I have no clue, is atypical bad? I read some have a WLE. Let me know what I can expect or anticipate from the pathology report. Thank you.
The vast majority of atypical moles never become cancerous. The general rule of thumb for atypical moles: if it is mildly atypical, you want clear margins. If it is moderately atypical, you want clear to conservative margins (2-3mm). If it is severely atypical, you want 5mm margins – just like melanoma in situ. There are some doctors who will just “watch” mild or even moderately atypical lesions even if they don’t have clear margins, but most prefer at least clean margins.
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