Association between dermoscopic and reflectance confocal microscopy features of cutaneous melanoma with BRAF mutational status

Background Melanomas harboring common genetic mutations might share certain morphological features detectable with dermoscopy and reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM). BRAF mutational status is crucial for the management of metastatic melanoma. Objective To correlate the dermoscopic characteristics of primary cutaneous melanomas with BRAF mutational status. Furthermore, a subset of tumors has been also analyzed for the presence of possible confocal features that might be linked with BRAF status. Methods Retrospectively acquired dermoscopic and confocal images of melanoma patients in tertiary referral academic centers: Skin Cancer Unit in Reggio Emilia and at the Melanoma Unit in Barcelona. Kruskall-Wallis test, logistic regressions, univariate and multivariate analyses have been performed to find dermoscopic and confocal features significantly correlated with BRAF mutational status. Results Dermoscopically the presence of irregular peripheral streaks and ulceration were positive predictor of BRAF mutated melanomas with a statistically significance value while dotted vessels were more represented in wild type melanomas. None of the evaluated RCM features were correlated with genetic profiling. Conclusions Ulceration and irregular peripheral streaks represent dermoscopic feature indicative for BRAF mutated melanoma while dotted vessels are suggestive for wild type melanoma. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.