Malignant Melanoma and Diabetic Cutaneous Atrophy

Excerpt

To the editor: The report of malignant melanoma in an area of diabetic cutaneous atrophy by Dr. Feldman ( 1 ) raises more questions than it answers. Dr. Feldman would have us believe that chronic skin changes in diabetes mellitus increase a patient's risk for malignant melanoma. His patient had 25 black papules and 4 pink nodules confined to areas of diabetic atrophy. The histologic diagnosis based on a punch biopsy of an unspecified lesion was "malignant melanoma, Clark's level IV and depth greater than 3.5 mm." This pathologic diagnosis implies that the author was able to identify a primary