Cutaneous tumors of children

Nevi are the most common tumors of childhood. Pigmented nevi are classified into blue nevi, intraepidermal nevi, junction nevi, intradermal nevi (or common mole) and combination types. Cutaneous malignant disease in children is rare. Malignant melanoma is rare before puberty. Wholesale removal of benign pigmented nevi in children should be condemned. However, junction nevi located on the palms, soles, genitalia or waistline-that is, in areas subject to frequent trauma-should be excised. Hemangiomas in infants are the most common tumors for which advice is sought. Not all hemangiomas regress spontaneously, and on occasion the persistence or progression of such a lesion may bring about life-long unsightly deformities. Therapy for this type of tumor is simple when given early in life. Hemangiomas involving the ears, nose, lips or eyelids should be treated at once, preferably within a month of the time they appear.