Slow-growing melanoma: Report of five cases

Epidemiologic data on melanoma reveal a considerable increase in incidence, especially of the early forms (melanoma in situ and early invasive melanoma), but the mortality rates are relatively stable. These data suggest the hypothesis of the existence of a melanoma with less aggressive biological behaviour. This hypothesis is, however, hard to be proven if the assumption is true that more and less aggressive melanomas very often exhibit overlapping clinical and histopathologic features. Digital dermoscopic imaging techniques permit today a detailed documentation of lesions over time and, therefore, represent an optimal tool to disclose the natural evolution of a given lesion. We present five case of slow-growing melanomas observed during a long-term period of follow-up.