Even expansion to a primary care skin cancer clinic tied to consistent and sustainable benefits<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, March 23, 2021 (HealthDay News) — A structured surveillance program for high-risk melanoma patients can be scaled and successfully replicated even in a primary care skin cancer clinic, according to a study published online March 17 in JAMA Dermatology<\/em>.<\/p>\n Pascale Guitera, M.D., Ph.D., from the Melanoma Institute Australia at the University of Sydney, and colleagues examined the longer-term sustainability and expansion of a melanoma surveillance program for high-risk patients (full-body examinations every six months aided by total-body photography [TBP] and sequential digital dermoscopy imaging) to numerous practices, including a primary care skin cancer clinic setting. The analysis included 593 patients assessed from 2012 to 2018 at three dermatology clinics and one primary care skin cancer clinic.<\/p>\n The researchers found 1,513 lesions were excised during follow-up, including 171 primary melanomas, and excision ratios were similar across the four centers. In the first two years, the risk for developing a new melanoma was 9 percent annually, which increased with time, particularly for those with multiple primary melanomas. The seven thicker melanomas (>1 mm Breslow thickness; 4.1 percent of melanomas) were mostly desmoplastic or nodular (four of seven), self-detected (two of seven), or clinician detected without the aid of TBP (three of seven). New melanomas (171) were most likely to be detected by a clinician with the aid of TBP (31.6 percent) followed by digital dermoscopy monitoring (29.2 percent).<\/p>\n “The findings of this cohort study suggest that the structured surveillance program may be implemented on a larger scale, including at primary care skin cancer clinics, with consistent and sustainable benefits observed,” the authors write.<\/p>\n One author disclosed financial ties to a medical technology company and one disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n