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In-person consults reveal melanomas at an earlier stage

Early-stage melanoma was more likely to be detected during an in-person consult than in an incidental fashion, according to study results.

Researchers studied records from 17,174 consults dermatology consults at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

They identified 231 melanomas in 221 patients. Of the 231 melanomas, 144 were identified during an in-person consultation and 87 were discovered incidentally. The incidental melanoma detection rate was 0.5%.

Data showed that melanomas detected during consults were more likely than incidental melanomas to be invasive (P < .0001), and less likely to have a Breslow depth of less than 1 mm (P = .0036).

Incidental melanomas had a mean diameter of 0.98 cm and consult melanomas had a mean diameter of 1.3 cm. Incidental melanomas were also thinner (0.64 mm vs. 1.74 mm).

Patients with incidental melanomas were more likely to have a history of nonmelanoma skin cancer (P = .0033).

Significantly more patients with consult melanomas were referred for a single lesion compared with those with incidental melanomas (P = .008).

Among all melanomas, 37.7% were on the head or neck, 36.8% were on the trunk and 25.5% were on the extremities, the researchers reported. – by Matt Hasson

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.