Unusual Mole, punch biopsy today.

Hello Dr. Rockoff,

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  I wanted to ask you a few questions.  when I was around 7-8 years old I developed two moles on my upper back....I am now 26.  They were always dark and slightly raised, the one in the middle was/is round but I couldnt remember what the other one looked like.  Well, the other day I found a pimple on my back and noticed the other mole was slightly odd.  It was still brown, and still felt the same to the touch, but the border was slightly irregular.  i dont remember if it had always been this way so I went today to my PCP, who decided to do a punch biopsy.  he said if anything comes back irregular he will refer me to a dermatologist.  This happened on a military base.  I also would like to add that I am 9 weeks pregnant, and since have noticed a slight darkening in some of my other beauty marks/moles.  i have no history of melanoma in my family...my mother had squamos cell but i dont think its related.  As far as skin goes, I seem to be a genetic macth to my father, we  have identical moles in the same places, same kind of skin, and pilar cysts of the scalp.  he does not have a melanoma.  I also saw the tissue after the punch biopsy...the mole was just a very thin layer of brown on the very top layer of skin with felsh colored/pink tissue underneath..I dont know if thats relevent.   iguess my question is, just because there was an irregular border, does that mean it is def. melanoma?  Could the fact that I have had it so long with only a small change if any be a good thing? or a bad thing?  Does the fact that it appeared to be only on the top layer of skin mean that if it is a melanoma it hasnt grown underneath my skin yet?  Could this be related to my pregnacy? If this comes back irregular will I have to terminate my pregnancy?  Thank you for taking the time to read this Dr.  I look forward to your reply!

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Not to worry.  Everything seems to have been done properly.  The chances are overwhelming that this is not a melanoma.  The doctor simply wanted to be sure, which is a good thing.  I don't think your pregnancy has anything to do with this, one way or the other.  I have little doubt that you won't get anything hut good news.  Wait for the biopsy report and relax.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[ziggysgrl0724]

I forgot to mention that this mole was prob somewhere around 5mm i think....it was smaller then a pencil eraser.  Also, does the fact that this procedure was not done by a dermatologist increase the chance of a problem with the biopsy?  The doc also didnt have an opion one way or the other,,,I know better safe then sorry.  He didnt tell me he thought it was/wasnt anything serious.  Is this because he wasnt a dermatologist and really didnt know? Was it wise of me to have this procedure done by him? I am sorry I have asked a lot of questions.  I have anxiety disorder, I am currently taking zoloft.  Its just the idea of a piece of my body beinbg tested for cancer scares me to no end.  Thank you.

[ziggysgrl0724]

update:

Hi Dr. i just wanted to tell you, the pathology came back as a compound meloncytic nevus.....from what I understand, this is a completely benign finding.. The concern i have is, now that this mole has been tampered with, wont it always look a little abnormal? would I be able to tell in the future if it possible starts to have malignant changes?  Would you say this mole needs to be removed?  Thank you very much!