Skin checks detecting high proportion of ‘not harmful’ melanomas

Source: News GP, June 2022

Nearly one third of melanomas detected during routine skin checks may not be harmful, new research out of QIMR Berghofer suggests.

The observational study, which tracked nearly 44,000 Queenslanders aged 40–69?years with no prior history of melanoma over seven years, found detections were significantly higher among those who had routinely had their skin examined by a doctor before enrolling in the study.

It concluded that people who undergo skin screening subsequently experience higher rates of biopsies and melanoma (especially in situ melanoma), even after adjusting for all known risk factors, ‘consistent with overdiagnosis’.

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