Medical Student Research Forum Posters

• Early diagnosis of melanoma is imperative for improved survival

• The diagnosis of melanoma is based on histopathologic evaluation but lacks interobserver agreement in up to 10-25% of cases1 , showing the diagnostic difficulty in a subset of melanocytic neoplasms

• Improved molecular diagnostic markers are needed, which may impact diagnosis and treatment recommendations2

• p16, the protein product of CDKN2A, is a gene frequently mutated in melanomagenesis3,4

• p16 immunohistochemistry (IHC) is becoming a commonly used marker for evaluating challenging melanocytic neoplasms

• Prospective studies on the impact of p16 IHC on the diagnosis, diagnostic confidence, and treatment recommendations by dermatopathologists of melanocytic neoplasms are lacking