Low-risk lesion, increased-risk patient: separating lesion prognosis from future melanoma risk

Alternative terminology for melanoma in situ may reduce anxiety and preference for further surgery, while having little effect on preferences for clinical surveillance. We argue that lesion-level prognosis and patient-level future melanoma risk should be considered separately, so that de-escalation of treatment is not automatically equated with de-escalation of risk-based follow-up.