May melanophages hinder the subclinical spread of lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma? Results from a pilot study

Lentigo maligna (LM) and lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM) are renown to present a subclinical spread that often extends widelyin the surrounding photodamaged skin. Previous studies showed that subclinical spread of melanoma was associated to lesion size[1-3], ill-defined margins[4], head and neck or central face localization[3, 5, 6], patient age ≥ 60-65 years[2, 6], phototype III-IV[5], incompletely excised or recurrent tumors[1, 4], history of previous treatment[6], nests formation[4], dermal invasion[1], and ≥ 1 mitoses/mm2 [6]. To analyze more thoroughly this argument, we performed a prospective study evaluating clinical, dermoscopic and histological features associated with subclinical spread of LM and LMM of the face.