Public Health and Diagnostic Approaches to Risk Stratification for Melanoma

Abstract

Melanoma mortality has declined over the past decade, largely due to availability of dramatically more effective treatments of advanced disease, 1 but melanoma remains an important public health problem due to a persistent significant mortality risk as well as morbidity and cost. In this issue, Kashani-Sabet et al 2 report early detection and prognostic assessment recommendations of a large group of experts using a modified Delphi approach. We consider these recommendations from 3 perspectives: the role of risk stratification, the role of gene expression profiling (GEP), and the hierarchy of evidence as it pertains to public health.