[Punch biopsy in the diagnosis of skin tumors]

Punch biopsy is a feasible method in the early diagnosis of nonmelanotic skin cancer in primary health care, but should not be applied to lesions that appear clinically as melanomas. Small skin lesions suspected to be malignant can often be completely excised in primary health care. If the skin tumor is large, a biopsy from the tumor area is worth taking so that the edge of the tumor remains intact. A sufficient specimen for histological examination is usually obtained with a punch having a diameter of 3 to 4 millimeters.