email article
Regular skin surveillance using total body imaging was helpful for picking up malignant melanomas in high-risk people, researchers reported.
In an Australian study of 593 adults, a structured surveillance program involving total-body photography (TBP) and sequential digital dermoscopy imaging (SDDI) every 6 months identified 171 new cases of melanoma during a nearly 3-year follow-up, reported Anne Cust, PhD, MPH, of the University of Sydney, and colleagues.
This type of imaging specifically detected 67% of new melanomas in this population, nearly all of which had a Breslow thickness of 1 mm or less, the group wrote in
Over 31% of these new melanomas were detected with the aid of TBP, while 29.2% were detected with digital dermoscopy monitoring.