This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on ISI (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Diagnosis  • Physical Examination  • Neoplasms  • Alert me on articles by topic

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

It is clear that the medical community and the public owe substantial gratitude to those who created the ABCD mnemonic for melanoma diagnosis in 1985.¹ Undoubtedly, the number of melanomas that have been diagnosed early by the use of this acronym is large.

In a recent editorial titled "ABCDE—an Evolving Concept in the Early Detection of Melanoma," Rigel et al² emphasized the earlier recommendation that the inclusion of E for evolving would serve as an additional aid toward the early diagnosis of these lesions.³

Perhaps it is fortunate that one of the less broad definitions (albeit accurate) of evolution (ie, a process of change leading to an improved state) was stated in this editorial, just beneath the title. This is because the use of that particular definition of evolution at this site, which was in regard to the clinical and technologic improvements in early melanoma diagnosis, seems to emphasize that . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Bruce A. Cohn, MD

RELATED ARTICLES

In Consideration of the E in the Melanoma ABCDE Mnemonic—Reply
Darrell S. Rigel, Robert J. Friedman, Alfred W. Kopf, and David Polsky
Arch Dermatol. 2006;142(4):529-530.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

ABCDE—An Evolving Concept in the Early Detection of Melanoma
Darrell S. Rigel, Robert J. Friedman, Alfred W. Kopf, and David Polsky
Arch Dermatol. 2005;141(8):1032-1034.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT