Physical Findings

Stop & Think

Lab and X-Ray

Differential Diagnosis

The Disease

Treatment

Conclusions

Quiz & Evaluation

• Familial condition studied by Clark in the 1970's.
• So-called BK mole syndrome (first two letters of the last names of the two families studied).
• These people were born with scads of moles (like familial polyposis of the colon).
• Variable pigmentation. (Flag sign)
• Occur on both sun-exposed and non-sun-exposed skin.
• Observed histologic transition.
• Nests of nevus cells start out in the epidermis.
• Grow radially and fuse with surrounding clusters.
• Cytologic atypia.
• Eventually a clone of malignant cells develops within the above described background of abnormal nevus cells.
• Many believe the above sequence holds for the sporadic, non-inherited malignant melanomas.