What is "nodular melanoma"?

What is "nodular melanoma"?

There are many different subtypes of melanomas that patients can present with at the doctor's office. They are dictated by their location on the skin, and the nature of how they look clinically, as well as how they are under the microscope. The most dangerous type of malignant melanoma skin cancer is the “nodular melanoma,” which accounts for approximately 15% of all melanomas. Nodular melanomas have a very short or absent horizontal growth phase, which means that they grow horizontally for a very short time before they start growing vertically or invasively. The chance of metastasis increases the more invasive the melanoma cells are in the dermis. These lesions present with an already high risk of metastasis when they first show at the doctor's office. Often these lesions are also non-pigmented, and in being so are very difficult to distinguish from other lesions on the skin.