Melanocytic tumors are of capital important for all pathologists, being fraught with pitfalls and high litigation risk. In this practically oriented course, addressed both to practicing surgical pathologists and to residents, participants will study a broad range of benign and malignant melanocytic lesions and acquire a solid working knowledge for diagnosis.

Presentation of 12 cases will illustrate characteristic features, frame the differential diagnosis, and provide a comprehensive overview of melanocytic pathology. Topics will include: staging of melanoma, grading of atypical (dysplastic) nevi, regression and recurrence of nevi and melanomas, distinction of primary from metastatic melanoma, characteristic features of melanocytic nevi of special anatomic sites (acral, breast, genital, etc.), use of sentinel lymph node biopsy, and unusual morphologic variants of melanoma and nevi (chondroid, desmoplastic, angiotropic, spindle-cell, etc.). Clinical management, recent advances in the understanding of pathogenesis, and the use of immunohistochemistry will be emphasized.

Pre-registrants will receive by mail the case histories and a CD-ROM of images displaying the diagnostic histopathologic features. A comprehensive syllabus with bibliography will be distributed at the course. Time for questions and answers will be provided, and interaction with participants strongly encouraged.

Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to: 1) Recognize the main histopathologic features of nevi and melanomas relevant for the differential diagnosis; 2) Identify the histopathologic patterns of melanomas that may simulate benign or other malignant conditions; and 3) Understand the effective application of ancillary techniques to diagnosis.

(New Course) This course may be used for CME credits or SAM's credits.