Description
This is the central part of an oval piece of skin, which measured 22 x 17 cm. It had been removed
with some 2 cm. thickness of the underlying fat. Towards the centre there is a raised,
heavily-pigmented lesion some 2 cm. across with, at the upper pole, a pale area with, at one point
at the periphery, an area of dark pigmentation. The central defect shown in the specimen is where
a piece was taken for histology.
History
This man presented in 1975 with a black, pigmented lesion in the lumbar region, which
had been present for some 20 years. The lesion was widely excised, and the area grafted.
Microscopically, this was shown to be a malignant, nodular melanoma. By December 1977 there
was no evidence of metastases.