Treatment of melanotic freckle with x-rays

A. W. Kopf, R. S. Bart and A. H. Gladstein

Sixteen patients were treated for melanotic freckle of Hutchinson (lentigo maligna) with the Miescher technique of x-ray therapy. Eleven patients had no local cutaneous recurrences of persistence following x-ray therapy. Five patients had local recurrence or persistence of their lesions. Three patients developed metastatic malignant melanoma. The first of these three patients had lentigo maligna melanoma, and the second patient had a melanotic freckle with atypical cells extending down the adnexae, including the sweat apparatus to the level of the coiled portion of one sweat gland. The third patient was considered to be in a precancerous phase at the time of irradiation. Nevertheless, metastases occurred. European colleagues indicate that they have not experienced such problems in using the Miescher technique. The procedure has been abandoned in our department, pending further clarification of the discrepancy between our results and those reported by our European colleagues.