Abstract

Background Seborrheic keratoses are the most common skin lesions known to contain small white or yellow structures called milia-like cysts (MLCs). Varied appearances can sometimes make it difficult to differentiate benign lesions from malignant lesions such as melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer found in humans. Objective the purpose of this study was to determine the statistical occurrence of MLCs in benign vs. malignant lesions. Methods a medical student with 10 months experience in examining approximately 1000 dermoscopy images and a dermoscopy-naïve observer analyzed contact non-polarized dermoscopy images of 221 malignant melanomas and 175 seborrheic keratoses for presence of MLCs. Results the observers found two different types of MLCs present: large ones described as cloudy and smaller ones described as starry. Starry MLCs were found to be prevalent in both seborrheic keratoses and melanomas. Cloudy MLCs, however, were found to have 99.1% specificity for seborrheic keratoses among this group of seborrheic keratoses and melanomas. Conclusion Cloudy MLCs can be a useful tool for differentiating between seborrheic keratoses and melanomas. © 2010 the Authors. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology © 2010 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

Department(s)

Chemistry

Publication Status

Full Access

Comments

National Cancer Institute, Grant R44CA101639

Keywords and Phrases

melanoma; milia-like Cyst; seborrheic Keratosis

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1468-3083; 0926-9959

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2024 Wiley, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Oct 2011

PubMed ID

21923811

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