History:

These images show various presentations of melanoma on the scalp.It is always important to examine the scalp carefully when doing a skin examination.The first image shows a melanoma developing in a pink nevus.It was spotted by the patient's wife when she was cutting his hair.It was 2mm thick which is significantly thick for a melanoma.

The other examples are larger but thinner and paradoxically are less serious ie they are less likely to have spread elsewhere.The thickness of a melanoma is what really determines how serious it is rather than the size.