Department of Science and Technology Studies, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Theor Med Bioeth. 2011 Feb;32(1):19-32. doi: 10.1007/s11017-010-9168-3.
In this article, I begin by giving a brief history of melanoma causation. I then discuss the current manner in which malignant melanoma is classified. In general, these systems of classification do not take account of the manner of tumour causation. Instead, they are based on phenomenological features of the tumour, such as size, spread, and morphology. I go on to suggest that misclassification of melanoma is a major problem in clinical practice. I therefore outline an alternative means of classifying these tumours based on causal factors. By analogy with similar systems that have recently emerged for other cancers, I suggest that this causal classification is likely to be both workable and helpful, even in the absence of a full causal-mechanistic understanding of the aetiology of the tumour.
在本文中，我首先简要介绍了黑色素瘤病因的历史。然后，我讨论了目前恶性黑色素瘤的分类方式。一般来说，这些分类系统并没有考虑肿瘤病因的方式，而是基于肿瘤的现象学特征，如大小、扩散和形态。我接着指出，黑色素瘤的误诊是临床实践中的一个主要问题。因此，我提出了一种基于病因的肿瘤分类方法。通过与最近出现的其他癌症的类似系统进行类比，我认为这种因果分类方法不仅可行，而且有用，即使我们对肿瘤的病因没有充分的因果机制理解。
