Pigment Regrowth…help Janner or anyone?
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Pigment Regrowth…help Janner or anyone?

› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Pigment Regrowth…help Janner or anyone?

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    • May 7, 2018 at 5:31 pm
    MattS
    Participant

      I have had a bunch of moles biopsied, probably 20 or so and more than half have been atypical (mostly mild and 4 moderate). I notice that I read alot that most dermatologists want to fully excise pigment regrowth in biopsies that came back mildly atypical. When I asked my dermatologist about that he said, "Ok, so with your scars look for pigment regrowth that is outside the scar area, much darker, itchy, that kind of thing…if the pigment regrowth is generally light and within the scar like yours are, you should be ok." But in reality, should I being asking him to take it out? It seems like I read on here that everyone says it should be taken out…

      Also, one more question. When I had asked my doc about all the changes I should be looking for in my moles and red flags and all that, I later went in because I had a mole that got a little darker but only on part of the mole. We biopsied it and it just came back as a normal mole. He told me that change doesn't always mean bad. My question (that I thought of after the fact, and will ask when I go for my yearly in a few weeks, but am curious now), is that I understand that change doesn't always mean bad, but does that also apply to moles that clearly are atypical on your skin? Like, lets pretend you have an atypical mole and are watching it – is it possible for those to change but not in a bad/progression way?

      Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

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        • May 9, 2018 at 6:42 pm
        cancersnewnormal
        Participant

          I've had three different doctors tell me "Pigment should not return". My first "atypical" removal ever, grew back into the scar. I ended up going to see a new family physician for a sore throat, when he noticed the odd spot on my shoulder. I told him that it had been removed years earlier, and that it only looked weird, because it grew back in and followed the scar tissue lines. He looked at me and said "Pigment should not come back. Ever." Sooooo… he did a biopsy. It was "moderately atypical". Sent me to a surgeon for more complete removal. The surgeon told me "Pigment should never return." The surgical pathology came back as stage 1a melanoma, and a second, even wider margin surgery was done. I've never seen pigment return there. I do have light freckles that still surround the 4 inch scar across my shoulder, but none within the borders of the scar itself. My current dermatologist recently removed a spot that was new and very near the scar where my lung lobe was removed (metastasis). I noticed the new spot after reviewing photos from the surgical recovery of the area. THIS dermatologist works at the cancer center, and only deals with oncological patients. After he removed the spot, he told me "Pigment should never return". The pathology came back with some atypia, but there were narrow margins all the way around. He told me we could remove more, or watch the scar for return of pigment… because if anything pops back up there… I'm getting a deeper dig. 

          Personally… I'd get a second opinion about any scar tissue with a return of the color… because from what I've been told… that should not happen if the removal was thorough. 

            • May 10, 2018 at 1:16 am
            MattS
            Participant

              Thank you for your reply. I've only had shave biopsies done, so I'm almost not surprised to have pigment regrowth as I've heard that is common because the mole isn't always fully removed that way…in fact, only one of my biopsies was fully removed with clear margins with a shave and it turned out to be a normal common mole. I also have one or two biopsies that came back as common moles that have a little pigment regrowth too. A dermatologist I saw when in college when I was young and ignorant about all of this did a biopsy on a mole just in case when I was in for another issue, and months later when I was in for another visit had noticed there was pigment regrowth and when I asked him about it he took a look at it and said "sometimes that happens, usually nothing to worry about." So I've had two different dermatologists tell me pigment regrowth can be ok and when I should worry about it, but once I started looking online and on these forums it seems the concensus is to have it removed again…all the confusion!

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