BACKGROUND

Nonpigmented skin neoplasms are a significant problem in the practice of dermatovenereologists and cosmetologists, as they can resemble inflammatory dermatoses, mimic benign skin tumors, reducing oncological alertness of both doctors and patients. Amelanotic (nonpigmented) melanoma is an extremely aggressive nonepethelial malignant tumor that develops from melanocytes but has no pigment. Skin melanoma morbidity has increased in the last 10 years by a factor of 1.5 and amounted to 70.4 cases per 100 thous. population as of 2021. Melanoma occupies the first place in terms of mortality among all skin tumors.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the most common nonpigmented skin neoplasms, focusing on their clinical and dermatoscopic diagnosis.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A non-systematic review of domestic and foreign sources on the studied topic, which was performed using a continuous sampling in PubMed, RSCI and eLibrary databases using the following keywords: amelanotic melanoma, basal-cell carcinoma, seborrheic keratosis, angiokeratoma, pyogenic granuloma, dermatoscopy as well as their combinations. The information presented in original studies and reviews of literature, as well as the results of own research, namely a total of 30 sources were analyzed. The search depth was 18 years, years of search: 2004—2022.

RESULTS

The most common nonpigmented skin tumors were described: basal-cell carcinoma, amelanotic melanoma, seborrheic keratosis, vascular tumors. Approaches to their clinical and dermatoscopic diagnosis were presented. Relatively little studied amelanotic skin melanoma is particularly dangerous. The analysis of clinical and dermatoscopic features of amelanotic melanoma was performed based on own clinical observations and literature data.

CONCLUSION

Removal of nonpigmented skin neoplasms with their subsequent histological examination should be the gold standard of diagnosis, which allows to exclude amelanotic melanoma.