MoleMate: Melanoma Surveillance in the U.S.
SOURCE: Center for Disease Control
It’s important to note that malignant melanoma cancer is less common, but more deadly. If not caught early and allowed to spread to other organs, it can be fatal.
The CDC produced a article published by the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, focusing on melanoma surveillance, trends, and survival rates. Many of the studies used data from CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries and the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program, covering the largest percentage of the U.S. population ever studied.
More than 45,000 cases of melanoma occurred in 45 states and the District of Columbia each year between 2004 and 2006, according to the report. Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer, causing about 8,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.
Deaths caused by melanoma accounted for $3.5 billion in lost productivity each year. A person who died of melanoma between 2000 and 2006 died 20 years prematurely, compared to 17 years from other cancers.
Melanoma rates were higher among white, Hispanic females aged 50 and younger, and Asian/Pacific Islander females aged 40 and younger, compared to their male counterparts. This study also found that Hispanics, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and Asians were diagnosed with melanoma at younger ages than whites and blacks.
Melanoma incidence was higher among females than males, increased with age, and was higher in non-Hispanic whites than Hispanic whites, blacks, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and Asians/Pacific Islanders.
In 2005, 34% of adults had been sunburned in the past year, and in 2004, 69% of adolescents were sunburned during the previous summer.
Doctors are required by law to report melanomas to central cancer registries, but many dermatologists reported being unaware of reporting requirements.
The FDA approved SIMSYS-MoleMate Skin Imaging System, a non-invasive skin cancer screening procedure, is a significant advance in the early detection of potentially life threatening moles and lesions.
Physicians have found the SIMSYS-MoleMate Siascope hand-held device easy to learn and use, and that it rapidly provides accurate images of the pigment, blood, and collagen below the mole or lesion.
Now for the first time, physicians can more accurately evaluate suspicious moles and lesions in a non-invasive, pain-free way. Experts also believe it may reduce the need for time consuming and expensive biopsies. For more information about SIMSYS-MoleMate,