[The under- and overdiagnosis of primary skin melanomas]

The analysis of clinico-morphological data on 10123 cases of tumor and malformation of the skin seen at The N. N. Petrov Research Institute of Oncology of the USSR Ministry of Health showed primary skin melanoma to be underdiagnosed in 30.6% of cases and overdiagnosed in 60.1%. Complex pigmented nevus, pigmented basal-cell papilloma, basalioma, hemangioma and angiofibroma may simulate primary skin melanoma which accounts for misdiagnosis.