Accuracy of Diagnostic Biopsy for Cutaneous Melanoma: Implications for Surgical Oncologists

Table 3

Frequency of residual melanoma on wide local excision by biopsy technique.

Residual melanoma on WLE	Present	Absent	P value
Biopsy technique
Excisional	42/187 (23%)	145/187 (77%)	Reference
Shave	16/60 (27%)	44/60 (73%)	0.5508
Punch	47/68 (69%)	21/68 (31%)	<0.0001
Incisional	16/17 (94%)	1/17 (6%)	<0.0001

WLE: wide local excision.