The surgical management of "in situ" melanoma

The concept of melanoma "in situ" is discussed pointing out that these lesions have the potential to become invasive tumors if not adequately treated. If such a pathologic diagnosis is made, each margin of the specimen should be carefully checked for the presence of atypical melanocytes. In our experience, with excision margins of 0.5-1 cm, local recurrence has not been a problem.