Tips on Dermoscopy and Skin Cancer Detection, With Ashfaq Marghoob, MD

A workshop was conducted at the 2026 Maui Derm Hawaii conference, highlighting dermoscopy of special sites and skin cancer detection, with its presenter emphasizing the unique microanatomy of palms, facial skin, soles, and nails.1,2

This workshop was presented by Ashfaq Marghoob, MD, a dermatologist specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer and the director of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering regional skin cancer clinic. Marghoob spoke with HCPLive’s editorial team regarding the most important points highlighted in his dermoscopy workshop.

“The first and most important thing was to recognize that special sites in dermoscopy are defined by areas of the skin where the microanatomy differs from the rest of the non-glabrous skin on your body, except the face. So the non-glabrous skin, obviously, is everywhere other than palm soles, mucous membranes, and nails. But on the non-glabrous skin, the face is a special site, because the microanatomy on the face differs, and that is also true for the glabrous areas of the body.”

In his discussion of the dermoscopy workshop, Marghoob described the microanatomy of these areas as different than the rest of the body. The take-home point he highlighted for facial skin was the recognition of facial skin as having an attenuated and rich pattern.

“The next thing that we stressed was that melanoma on the face is derived from the stem cells that reside in the hair bulge, and therefore early melanoma is follicular centric,” Marghoob said. “So there are hyperpigmented follicular openings, irregularity around the follicle, and everything is around the follicle. The extension is from the follicle outward, as opposed to with benign lesions, which will be interfollicular and will be where the changes are, not in the follicle.”

Later in his discussion, Marghoob highlighted palms and soles exhibition of dermatoglyphics, with melanoma pigmentation on ridges and benign lesions in furrows. He further described nail unit dermoscopy highlights, noting clinical features such as nail dystrophy and triangular band shapes, which can overshadow dermoscopic findings.

For any additional information on the topics highlighted in Marghoob’s talk, view the full interview segment posted above.

The quotes used in this video summary were edited for clarity.

Marghoob reported no relevant financial disclosures of note.

References

1. Marghoob A. Dermoscopy Workshop: Special Site Dermoscopy. Presented at the 2026 Maui Derm Hawaii Conference, January 25-29.

2. Ring C, Cox N, Lee JB. Dermatoscopy. Clin Dermatol. 2021 Jul-Aug;39(4):635-642. doi: 10.1016/j.clindermatol.2021.03.009. Epub 2021 Mar 19. PMID: 34809768.