Immunohistochemistry May Improve Melanoma Diagnosis
Source: MDedge, April 2024
A retrospective analysis of Medicare data revealed that between 2000 and 2017, immunohistochemistry (IHC) claims associated with melanoma diagnoses grew from 11% to 51%. Rising utilization — and substantial geographic variation in practice patterns — argue for further research to optimize IHC use in the diagnoses of melanoma, according to the authors.
But with sparse guidance regarding best practices for IHC in melanoma diagnosis, concerns for appropriate use are rising, they wrote in their report, recently published in JAMA Dermatology.
Kenechukwu Ojukwu, MD, MPP, of the department of pathology and laboratory medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, and coinvestigators, searched the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)–Medicare database for incident in situ or invasive cutaneous melanoma in patients 65 years and older and accompanying IHC claims made during the month of diagnosis through 14 days afterward.