To Shave Or Not to Shave?
Melanoma is the most lethal form of skin cancer. Accurate diagnosis and early treatment are crucial for improving survival. Biopsy is a key step in diagnosis, and while excision biopsy is recommended, some melanomas are diagnosed using shave biopsy (which has a high rate of deep margin positivity, 42.9%).
However, a recent journal article in the Annals of Surgical Oncology stated that shave biopsies translate to a relatively small number of patients who have their T-stage increased (7.7%) or require a change in treatment recommendation (2.3%) after wide local excision. And so there was no significant difference in recurrence or survival rates between melanoma patients diagnosed with shave biopsy and other biopsy methods.
Ahmadi, O., Das, M., Hajarizadeh, B. et al. Impact of Shave Biopsy on Diagnosis and Management of Cutaneous Melanoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Ann Surg Oncol 28, 6168–6176 (2021)