Clinical trials evaluating the impact of sentinel node biopsy, completion lymph node dissection and adjuvant medical therapies on patient outcomes have changed practice significantly.

Clinician/pathologist communication is important for accurate diagnosis of melanocytic skin tumours.

In children and adolescents, there exist a variety of congenital and acquired naevi and other pigmented skin lesions that can be diagnostically problematic.

This article describes common changes that may occur in pigmented lesions in pregnancy, features that are of concern and the management of suspected melanoma in pregnant women.

These findings will inform the development, dissemination and evaluation of education strategies to improve knowledge of sentinel lymph node biopsy and lead to better patient outcomes.