Early Detection of Melanoma

The AHA! Team — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 05:23:11 +0000

Georgia M. Beasley, MD, MHSc, via Duke Health – Melanoma can be cured if detected early. Here, Georgia M. Beasley, MD, MHSc, a surgical oncologist at Duke Health, talks about what to look for and how to know if you are at high risk. How to Detect Melanoma Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer, responsible for the majority of all skin cancer deaths. Close to 100,000 new melanomas will be diagnosed this year. Fortunately, these cancers are usually curable if detected early. According to Dr. Beasley, patients diagnosed in the earliest stage of melanoma have over a 90% survival rate at five years, while those diagnosed at the most advanced stage have a 20 to 30% survival rate. Early detection is not always easy. Of all the moles in the United States, only one in 20,000 to 200,000 is a melanoma, so searching for an early-stage melanoma is a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack. The commonly recommended “ABCD” detection technique — looking for moles that are asymmetrical, have an irregular border, have uneven color, or a diameter larger than a pencil eraser — is quite helpful in detecting advanced melanomas, but to catch these cancers earlier, it’s important to take additional steps. Understand Your Risk Profile About half of melanomas occur in just 1 to 5% of the population. The average age of people when it is diagnosed is 65. But melanoma is not uncommon even among those younger than 30, said Dr. Beasley. In fact, it’s one of the most common cancers in young adults, especially young women. High-risk groups include people who have: A personal or family history of melanoma (two or more close relatives who have been diagnosed with invasive melanoma) Dysplastic (atypical) moles Numerous moles (generally more than 50) If you have one or more of these traits, regular skin checks may help save your life. Look Beyond Your Moles Many people are told that they have “pre-cancerous” moles, but this is a poor term: dysplastic (or atypical) moles may never progress to melanoma, and instead, are better considered a risk marker for melanoma. At least half of melanomas appear in normal skin. Look for Moles that Don’t Match Everyone’s moles are different, explained Dr. Beasley, so it’s hard to come up with a blanket description of normal moles versus early melanomas. If you see a new mole that looks different than your other (average) moles — a different color, irregular shape, a more pronounced border — you should have that different mole checked by a doctor. Look for Changes in Your Moles Identifying changing moles is one of the keys to early detection. All moles are new at some point, especially in young adults, so a new or enlarged mole is not necessarily a melanoma. However, if you note a changing mole, it is appropriate to seek medical advice. Don’t Rely on Memory If you have had a previous melanoma, dysplastic moles, or numerous moles, Dr. Beasley recommends asking your doctor about total-body photography. Instead of relying on memory to determine whether a mole has changed or is new, Duke dermatologists offer total-body photography to provide a baseline for comparison at future examinations. Total body photography CDs can be used in the clinic and at home to allow for comparisons. Heed Your Own Concerns If you are concerned about an area on your skin, that is enough reason for your doctor to be concerned as well. Don’t hesitate to ask for a second opinion if needed. To read the original article click here.

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Skin Cancer Diagnosis Is About to Undergo a Revolution

AHA Publisher — Tue, 04 May 2021 07:00:20 +0000

Abigail Klein Leichman via Israel21c – When Ofir Aharon was finishing his PhD in electro-optics engineering, his mother was diagnosed with melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer. He decided to channel his knowledge into inventing a potentially lifesaving device that could detect unique patterns of light movements in the skin before visible signs such as changes in pigmentation show up on the surface. “Physicians say 50 percent of skin cancer starts out ‘innocent’ and then becomes cancer, but pathologists familiar with tissue structure say 95% of lesions that look innocent already started as cancer. I wondered why there was no tool that could show the early deterioration of lesions well before they became pigmented,” Aharon tells ISRAEL21c. Aharon’s revolutionary discovery is that the movement of light scattering back to the imaging camera from a cancerous lesion looks much different than from a benign lesion. “In skin cancer we see a lot of lateral movement, mainly circular. If the lesion is normal, or if there is no lesion on the skin, this lateral movement looks random, with no prominent movements and thus no directional patterns. But in skin cancer the movement of the backscattered light goes from the middle outward or circles the middle of the lesion.” Aharon established Patternox to develop and commercialize his PatScope scanner, powered by an algorithm that extracts rotational movements from the scan. The product’s technical description is “a multifunctional device for imaging surface/volume irregularities on a skin lesion by shadow gradient pattern imaging.” Having filed a US patent application in early 2020, Patternox will launch a seed round in July with hopes of having PatScope FDA approved and commercialized in about two years. Aharon envisions a unique artificial intelligence (AI) system and reimbursement strategy so patients will be able to perform the scan at home with virtual assistance from their dermatologist. ‘Something We’ve Never Looked at Before’ Florida-based dermatologist Dr. Barry Galitzer is performing clinical trials using a PatScope prototype. “About a year ago, I read an article about Ofir’s technology to test for melanoma in advance, and I contacted him because I was excited about this,” Galitzer tells ISRAEL21c. “It’s a new concept enabling us to see something we’ve never looked at before.” Since December 2020, Galitzer has built a database of almost 200 scanned images. Each lesion is then biopsied and studied under a microscope to compare histological findings with the PatScope scans. The more he uses the scanner the more easily he can discern what he is seeing, Galitzer says. Once there’s a large enough sample database to learn from, AI could interpret the scanned images. “That is the exciting part,” he says. “AI would be incredible in giving us the answers we need.” This technology could reduce unnecessary biopsies, Galitzer adds. “We could evaluate the spot and immediately see if it has signs of abnormality and then take a biopsy to confirm that suspicion.” Another study will begin soon under the direction of plastic surgeons Yoram Wolf and Ofer Arnon at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera. Arnon is medical director of Patternox. Checking Astronauts for Skin Damage In addition to detecting skin cancer, the PatScope also could be used to reveal changes in the deeper layers of skin over time, monitoring degradation from, for example, sun damage and aging. The first place this application may be trialed is in outer space. “It is known that astronauts experience accelerated aging in space. One of the main reasons is the change in blood flow, which first affects the papillary layer under the epidermis,” says Aharon. “The method developed by Patternox would help astronauts monitor the behavior of their biggest organ — the skin — as an indicator of their exposure to microgravity, radiation dose, and stress during their missions in the International Space Station,” he explains. Aharon is seeking private or public investment to pursue a proposed collaboration with ICECUBES space application services to send a PatScope to the International Space Station for experimentation. The PatScope also has potential for cosmetic purposes. “For instance, dermatologists and aestheticians could use the scanner to monitor the effects of a prescribed skin cream,” Aharon says. But due to his mom’s history with melanoma, Aharon’s main focus is on detecting skin cancer earlier than ever before possible. “The PatScope shows not just underlying irregularities in patterns of lesions but also why the patterns are considered as a distortion utilizing PatScope’s algorithm analyzing the backscattered light’s lateral movements,” he says. “If we can identify unique characteristics of lateral movements for healthy skin versus skin cancer, we can probably develop artificial intelligence to diagnose skin cancer based on these kinds of movement.” For more information, click here For more information on skin cancer, click here. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

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Early Detection of Melanoma

Skin Cancer Diagnosis Is About to Undergo a Revolution