Atypical Mole

[mickmouse]

I recently showed  mole on my arm to my internist -- it's a small medium brown mole, but recently, almost attached to it, there seems to be a circular light brown area of discoloration. It doesn't seem to be growing, There are no black areas, red areas, etc. in it. It doesn't look nearly as fearful as the images of melanoma they show on the cancer detection leaflets. My internist thought it looked benign, but said I should have a dermatologist check it out to be sure.  I saw the dermatologist today  -- he said it is an atypical mole and it needs to come off.  I asked him if I should be worried, and his answer was "a little." Then he scheduled the mole removal/biopsy for a date almost a month away!  I guess I'm not really thrilled by that delay if I should be "a little" worried about it.   So my questions for you are: (1) is it safe to wait for a month to remove a mole when the doctor won't give you any predictions as to what it may be? and (2) I did call another dermatologist, and her office said that if there was an atypical mole, she'd biopsy on the first visit and then, if there was a problem, call back for a wider excision.  I'm wondering which is the accepted standard of care.

Thanks so much.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

I would do it the way the second doctor would.  I do have to add that your description of the mole doesn't sound too worrisome.  If the first dermatologist thinks it needs a biopsy, then I would certainly have this done, because when it comes to pigmented lesions, it's necessary to be as sure as possible.  Medically, I don't see a problem with waiting a month, since you almost certainly don't have an actual melanoma.  From the standpoint of peace of mind, however, I think you'd be better off having it done sooner, if you can arrange it.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[mickmouse]

Thank you, Doctor!

[mickmouse]

Thank you, Doctor!

[mickmouse]

I hate to ask another question, but here goes.  So I went to the second dermatologist. She thought it was nothing (said she was more worried about getting rid of the acne on my back), maybe a keratosis.  She did  a scrape biopsy and sent it off to pathology.  Now I'm confused because I thought they didn't do scrape biopsies on pigmented skin?

Sorry to be a pest and a worrier, but there's a lot of cancer in my family.

MickMouse

[redneck]

Just wanted to say i like your last name Doc not trying to be mean but its cool Peace Out