Plantar lentiginous melanoma. A clinicopathologic study.

Twenty cases of plantar melanoma treated at Ellis Fischel State Cancer Center (EFSCC) since 1940 are analyzed to determine the clinical and histologic features of prognostic significance. The EFSCC experience confirms and extends the observations made in other recent studies of plantar melanoma. This clinical pathologic study suggests that one of the histologic patterns, the lentiginous growth pattern, shares some biologic features with lentigo maligna, namely the relatively indolent growth phase. Plantar melanomas may remain latent for a number of years making these patients good candidates for therapeutic cures if detected early.