According to a new study, melanoma (traditionally recognized as the most dangerous form of skin cancer) is getting increasingly easier to find. It’s gotten to the point, apparently, where patients can locate and diagnose the disorder themselves.
Nevertheless, the study still notes that self-detection is nowhere nearly as reliable or recommended as screenings that are performed by renowned, legitimate doctors. As per research conducted by specialists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, it was found that on top of increased rates of doctors finding melanomas, the same physicians are also likely to detect thinner similar cancers in early stages.
Because of how deadly late-stage melanoma is, the findings of this study are potentially monumental.
In order to come to their conclusions, researchers reviewed nearly 10 years worth of patient records for a total of 394 people treated by two physicians at Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s lesions clinic. Said patients were divided up into a “new patient” group and an “established patient” group. According to the study, out of 527 melanomas, the physicians found 82 percent of them.
"Although we recognized that high-risk patients may have more frequent physician skin examinations and may be more vigilant in performing skin self-exam, we strongly believe that the [pigmented lesions clinic] setting contributes to earlier detection of melanoma in our cohort," Dr. Ivanka Kovalyshyn, of Sloan Kettering, and colleagues wrote in the report.
"It is crucial to emphasize that a combined strategy of physician detection and patient participation must continue to be implemented to ensure early melanoma diagnosis," the authors concluded.
This study was published in the July 18 online edition of Archives of Dermatology.
