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A Survey of US Dermatologists

Carlos A. Charles, MD; Vivian S. K. Yee, MD; Stephen W. Dusza, MPH; Ashfaq A. Marghoob, MD; Susan A. Oliveria, ScD; Alfred Kopf, MD; Darrell Rigel, MD; Allan C. Halpern, MD

Arch Dermatol. 2005;141:723-729.

Objective  To assess current practices of US dermatologists regarding the diagnosis, treatment, and management of melanoma in situ (MIS).

Design  Survey.

Participants  A total of 1200 dermatologists randomly selected from the American Board of Medical Specialists Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists.

Main Outcome Measures  Results based on 597 questionnaires returned.

Results  The overall response rate was 63% (597 of 945 eligible participants). To aid in clinical assessment, respondents reported using a magnifying lens (57.4%) and dermoscopy (17.4%). Most dermatologists preferred excisional and saucerization biopsies as the method of choice for sampling. A large percentage of physicians (78.9%) preferentially used dermatopathologists for the evaluation of the majority of pigmented lesions. Although most respondents would not unquestioningly accept a benign pathology diagnosis when there was a clinical suspicion of MIS, 16.1% would accept a pathologist’s diagnosis without further action. There was no consensus on the appropriate surgical margins or depth of excision for MIS. Of the respondents who characterized MIS as premalignant and malignant, 63.2% and 46.4%, respectively, did not know what percentage of MISs would progress to metastatic disease if left untreated.

Conclusions  Considerable variability exists in the clinical concept and management of MIS. Dermoscopy is underutilized. The true nature of the evolution of MIS is unknown. Surgical margins and depth of excision need to be standardized to help dermatologists manage disease. Further research in the specific area of MIS is warranted to develop clear guidelines in the management and prevention of further disease.

Author Affiliations: Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (Drs Charles, Yee, Marghoob, Oliveria, and Halpern and Mr Dusza); and Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, New York University School of Medicine, New York (Drs Kopf and Rigel).

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