Balloon cell melanoma in primary care practice: a case report

A case of balloon cell melanoma encountered in a primary care skin cancer practice in Melbourne, Australia is presented. The presenting lesion was 6 mm in diameter, ulcerated, non-pigmented and without any algorithmic clues to melanoma. However the presence of terminal hairs caused the clinician to suspect that it was melanocytic. The lesion was reported as a balloon cell melanoma, Clark level 4, Breslow thickness 2 mm with a mitotic index of 4 per square mm. This is an extremely rare melanoma subtype. Author DW has encountered only two cases in a career involving in excess of one million signed out dermatopathology reports. A search of the literature has not discovered any previously published dermatoscopy images of a balloon cell melanoma.