asymmetry, border, color, diameter (a mnemonic to aid health care providers in the recognition of malignant melanoma). Pigmented lesions on the skin with irregularities of growth and color and diameters greater than 6 mm have a considerable likelihood of being melanomas and should be professionally examined. Additional characteristics of melanomas include the sudden change of an existing mole or sudden appearance of pigmented moles. In some cases an existing mole that was flat elevates above the skin. The letter E is used as a mnemonic for this expansion or evolution of skin lesions (thus the mnemonic is sometimes referred to as ABCDE).