summaryWe have measured oestrogen and progesterone binding in specimens of histopathologically confirmed lentigo maligna (LM) lesions excised from five elderly white men, using a dextrancoated charcoal method. Oestrogen binding was observed in four of the five specimens, and progesterone binding in all five. Marginal normal skin showed only non‐specific binding for oestrogen and progesterone. The presence of steroid hormone receptors in LM suggests the possibility that hormone responsiveness may be relevant in the transformation of a lentigo maligna into malignant melanom