I Have Been Diagnosed With Two %E2%80%9Csevere%E2%80%9D Atypical Moles Following

Posted on Thu, 21 Nov 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : i have been diagnosed with two %E2%80%9Csevere%E2%80%9D atypical moles following an incision biopsy. no mention of melanoma but told these were pre-cancers. Ive been scheduled for excisions to find clear margins. I%E2%80%99ve been reading on the internet and I%E2%80%99m concerned that cancer cells could be found in the margin even though the histology of the lesions were only named pre cancerous. Can there be malignant cells in the margin and not in the mole?

Answered by Dr. Asmeet Kaur Sawhney (31 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Minimal chances of finding cancer cells in the margins

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to 'Ask A Doctor' service.
I have gone through your query and understand your concern.

There are minimal chances of finding cancer cells in the margin which will indicate an in situ melanoma.

It is not very common in the case of atypical moles.
But only an excisional biopsy will confirm this finding.

Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards
Dr Asmeet

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee