{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "kind": "condition",
  "id": "malignant-melanoma",
  "name": "Malignant Melanoma",
  "category": "chronic",
  "sources": "ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) class SD25.02 - condition scope only, no dose · Metastatic Melanoma - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470358/ · No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care",
  "review_status": "reviewed",
  "verified_against": "No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care",
  "verified_date": "2026-08",
  "treatments": [
    {
      "id": 1154,
      "generic": "No drug therapy in primary care (Referral & Advice)",
      "line": 1,
      "is_adjunct": false,
      "form": null,
      "strength_mg": null,
      "adult_dose": "An aggressive skin cancer arising from melanocytes, often within a pre-existing or new pigmented lesion; early recognition and prompt excision are critical since it can spread, so any suspicious pigmented lesion needs urgent dermatology/surgical referral rather than primary-care treatment.",
      "adult_duration": "Refer, with advice",
      "dose_source": "No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care",
      "rationale": "An aggressive skin cancer arising from melanocytes, often within a pre-existing or new pigmented lesion; early recognition and prompt excision are critical since it can spread, so any suspicious pigmented lesion needs urgent dermatology/surgical referral rather than primary-care treatment.",
      "cautions": [
        "RED FLAG - Subungual pigmentation (Hutchinson's sign) or amelanotic rapidly growing pink nodules: assess urgently and refer.",
        "No medicine is prescribed for this in primary care - this entry is for recognition and referral. Anything given is decided by the service it is referred to.",
        "RED FLAG - Use the ABCDE criteria for a suspicious pigmented lesion - asymmetry, border irregularity, color variegation, diameter >6mm, evolving - as the recognition criteria for early melanoma.",
        "RED FLAG - The additional alarm features of an existing pigmented lesion are itching, bleeding, ulceration, and satellite lesions.",
        "RED FLAG - Asymmetry, an irregular border, colour variation, or an evolving change in a pigmented lesion (the ABCDE criteria), or a new pigmented lesion that bleeds, itches, or ulcerates, needs urgent referral."
      ],
      "peds_mgkg_low": null,
      "peds_mgkg_high": null,
      "peds_max_mg": null,
      "peds_basis": null,
      "peds_unit": null,
      "peds_note": "Children follow the same pathway: recognise and refer. No primary-care medicine is implied.",
      "peds_min_weight_kg": null,
      "peds_max_weight_kg": null,
      "peds_age_min_months": null,
      "peds_age_max_months": null,
      "peds_age_bands": null,
      "peds_doses": null,
      "brands": [],
      "condition_id": "malignant-melanoma"
    }
  ]
}