High Melanoma Self-Check Fail Rate Hikes Cancer Risk
Source: Mirage News, July 2024
Australians are unable to recognise malignant melanomas on their own skin, calling into question the effectiveness of national self-detection guidelines, according to new Southern Cross University research.
Only a small percentage of participants – around 1 in 5 – were able to self-identify either in situ (on the surface) or invasive (below the skin) malignant melanomas (MM) as a lesion of concern. Unfortunately, only the more advanced, thicker MMs tended to be identified.
The findings are contained in the paper ‘Patients poorly recognize lesions of concern that are malignant melanomas: is self-screening the correct advice?’, published in J-Peer.