This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Lentigo maligna

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Hutchinson lentigo or lentigo maligna describes a large area of dark pigmentation found on the face and neck of older patients. It is a well-defined, though irregular macular lesion with a brown or mottled black colour.

It is important because it is premalignant. Not only are the lesions so deeply pigmented that signs of malignant change are difficult to detect, but furthermore proliferating melanocytes are vacuolated and dysplastic. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that these lesions may becoming rapidly invasive - lentigo maligna melanoma.

Treatment options

  • cryotherapy or excision may be advised for both lentigo and lentigo maligna, in the case of the latter, to pre-empt the development of a malignant melanoma.

Click here for an example image of this lesion


Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page