నైరూప్య

Malignant melanoma or pigmented squamous cell carcinoma? A diagnostic enigma.

Vignesh NR, Sivaramakrishnan S, Srinivasan S, Manoharan K

Malignant melanoma, a neoplasm of the melanocytes must be closely differentiated from pigmented squamous cell carcinoma and pigmented basal cell epithelioma which are less invasive in comparison. We report a case of acral melanoma, wherein histopathology showed a horn pearl in addition to features of melanoma. Immunohistochemistry clinched the diagnosis thus revealing its utmost importance in diagnostics and we have reported this case to highlight the importance of a thorough clinical and laboratory work-up in any suspected case of melanoma since it is a highly invasive condition which requires aggressive therapy