The Impact of Patient, Physician and Tumor Factors on Awareness and Early Diagnosis of Cutaneous Melanoma

Abstract

Background: The incidence of and death rate from cutaneous melanoma (CMM) continue to increase. Prior data suggests that more than half of CMM are detected by patients or their close contacts and that these patient-detected melanomas (PDM) present at higher stage than those found by physicians. As outcome is directly related to stage at presentation we undertook this study to identify strategies to improve timely patient detection of early CMM.