The ABCDEs acronym was developed by dermatologists at NYU Langone Medical Center 25 years ago to provide criteria for diagnosing melanoma.

“NYU Langone Medical Center is proud to have created a system, which successfully diagnoses melanoma and save lives,” said Seth J. Orlow MD PhD, chairman, The Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology and director on Center of Excellence in Cancers of the Skin at NYU Langone Medical Center, in a release. “The impact of the ABCDEs has been profound, creating a simple and quick guide for anyone to examine themselves. Few would argue that countless lives have been saved by of the development and awareness of the ABCDEs - helping detect the most dangerous form of skin cancer while still curable with simple removal before the cancer has spread.”

In 1985, Alfred Kopf, MD, then a professor of Dermatology and now professor emeritus, along with former NYU fellows Robert Friedman, MD, and Darrell Rigel, MD, both current NYU faculty, created the original ABCDs guide, “Early Detection of Malignant Melanoma: The Role of Physician Examination and Self-Examination of the Skin,” which was published in the CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

The E criteria was added about 20 years later by David Polsky MD, PhD, associate professor of Dermatology, director of the NYU Pigmented Lesion Clinic, along with Dr. Kopf, Dr. Friedman, Dr. Rigel and others, in an article, “Early Diagnosis of Cutaneous Melanoma: Revisiting the ABCD Criteria” published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, updating the acronym to ABCDEs.

The ABCDEs for Melanoma
A is for Asymmetry where one half of the mole is unlike the other.
B is for Border where the mole is irregular, scalloped or poorly defined.
C is for Color which varies from one area to another or has different shades of tan, brown, black and sometimes white, red or blue.
D is for Diameter of a mole when it is bigger than the size of a pencil eraser.
E is for Evolving or changing in size, shape or color.