Risk Factors for Melanoma and Genetic Testing

Source: Dermatology Times, January 2016

Although cutaneous melanoma results in more years of life lost than any adult cancer except breast cancer, 98% of local cases are cured. In fact, a 10-year study conducted in Schleswig-Holstein, an area of Germany, found that a screening program reduced mortality from 1.9 per 100,000 people to one death per 100,000.

 “You might say, ‘Why should we worry about assessing risk for melanoma, why not just screen the entire population?’” says David Polsky, M.D., Ph.D., who spoke to colleagues at the summer meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (New York, 2015).

READ: Melanoma subtypes challenging to diagnose, treat

One problem is cost. In order to prevent a single death from melanoma, the researchers in Germany had to screen 111,000 men (compared with only 67 men in colon cancer, based on other published studies, for example).