{"title":"Melanoma overdiagnosis: What do we know and what do we do?","authors":"Simon Clark, Nikita Rosendahl, Cliff Rosendahl","doi":"10.31128/AJGP-02-24-7176","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Melanoma overdiagnosis occurs when melanomas, not destined to cause morbidity or death in a patient's lifetime, are identified and treated.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study considers the causes and magnitude of melanoma overdiagnosis in Australia. We also speculate about a possible benefit of overdiagnosis in Australia; namely, a reduction in excess deaths in the geographical areas where melanoma is diagnosed most frequently.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Overdiagnosis can arguably be mitigated by factors that reduce the number of lesions treated for each melanoma identified. Data from the Australian Cancer Atlas show that there is a reduction in excess deaths from melanoma in geographical areas where diagnostic rates are higher (Pearson correlation coefficient r=-0.5978, 95% CI: -0.6243 to -0.5699, P<0.0001); this being the strongest inverse correlation observed among the 20 cancer types in the Atlas. Is early diagnosis of actual life-threatening melanomas in these geographical regions impacting survival? Further research is planned.</p>","PeriodicalId":54241,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of General Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Australian Journal of General Practice","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.31128/AJGP-02-24-7176","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Melanoma overdiagnosis occurs when melanomas, not destined to cause morbidity or death in a patient's lifetime, are identified and treated.
Objective: This study considers the causes and magnitude of melanoma overdiagnosis in Australia. We also speculate about a possible benefit of overdiagnosis in Australia; namely, a reduction in excess deaths in the geographical areas where melanoma is diagnosed most frequently.
Discussion: Overdiagnosis can arguably be mitigated by factors that reduce the number of lesions treated for each melanoma identified. Data from the Australian Cancer Atlas show that there is a reduction in excess deaths from melanoma in geographical areas where diagnostic rates are higher (Pearson correlation coefficient r=-0.5978, 95% CI: -0.6243 to -0.5699, P<0.0001); this being the strongest inverse correlation observed among the 20 cancer types in the Atlas. Is early diagnosis of actual life-threatening melanomas in these geographical regions impacting survival? Further research is planned.
期刊介绍：
The Australian Journal of General Practice (AJGP) aims to provide relevant, evidence-based, clearly articulated information to Australian general practitioners (GPs) to assist them in providing the highest quality patient care, applicable to the varied geographic and social contexts in which GPs work and to all GP roles as clinician, researcher, educator, practice team member and opinion leader. All articles are subject to peer review before they are accepted for publication.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
