Most common clinicopathologic class of melanoma during the radial growth phase is
Ans. is 'c' i.e., Superficial spreading Melanoma - Morphology* Melanomas show striking variations in color, appearing in shades of black, brown, red, dark blue, and gray.* The borders of melanomas are irregular and often notched, unlike the smooth, round, and uniform borders of melanocytic nevi.* Central to understanding the progression of melanoma is the concept of radial and vertical growth phases.* Radial growth describes the horizontal spread of melanoma within the epider- mis and superficial dermis. During this initial stage the tumor cells seem to lack the capacity to metastasize.* Tumors in radial growth phase fall into several clinicopathologic classes, including:1) Lentigo maligna, usually presenting as an indolent lesion on the face of older men that may remain in the radial growth phase for several decades;2) Superficial spreading, the most common type of melanoma, usually involving sun-exposed skin; and3) Acral entiginous, these are mucosal lesions of melanoma and are unrelated to sun exposure.* After a variable (and unpredictable) period of time, melanoma shifts from the radial phase to a vertical growth phase, during which the tumor cells invade downward into the deeper dermal layers as an expansile mass. The vertical growth phase is often heralded by the appearance of a nodule and correlates with the emergence of a tumor subclone with metastatic potential.* Unlike melanocytic nevi, "neurotization" is absent from the deep invasive portion of melanoma.* The probability of metastasis in such lesions correlates with the depth of invasion, which by convention is the distance from the superficial epidermal granular cell layer to the deepest intradermal tumor cells; this measurement is known as the Breslow thickness.
Acral lentigines
Lentigo maligna
Superficial spreading
None of the above
Neoplasia