Melanoma Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Melanoma, including details on identification, causes, prevention, treatment.

An inquiry into the nature of the pigmented lesion above Franklin Delano Roosevelt's left eyebrow.

Ackerman AB, Lomazow S

Ackerman Academy of Dermatopathology, 145 E 32nd St, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10016, USA. jdelarose@ameripath.com

BACKGROUND: Little note was taken when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was alive and since his death of the pigmented lesion above his left eyebrow that fulfilled clinical criteria for melanoma. OBSERVATIONS: On morphologic grounds alone, it is im possible to exclude the possibility that Roosevelt had a melanoma. CONCLUSIONS: The failure of observers of Roosevelt, especially his physicians, to comment on his riveting facial lesion and to identify it as a probable melanoma speaks volumes about how flawed were clinical criteria for diagnosis of flat and slightly raised lesions of melanoma in the 1930s and 1940s.

Published 22 April 2008 in Arch Dermatol, 144(4): 529-32.
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