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Home Teledermatology for suspected skin cancers Clinical features of skin lesions CME
Created 2017.
Skin cancers and precursor lesions should be identified and removed.
Benign skin lesions should be identified. They don’t need removal, unless:
General characteristics of skin cancer are:
General characteristics of benign skin lesions are:
When evaluating pigmented lesions, especially if of concern to the patient, explain that diagnosis can be difficult:
Most melanomas arise from normal skin. Precursor lesions include:
If the lesion is likely benign, explain reasons against unnecessary excision:
Also explain the reasons that partial biopsy is generally avoided.
Precursor lesions are actinic keratoses and intraepidermal carcinoma for SCC.
There is no precursor lesion for BCC.
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