Impact of Dermatologic Screening and Methods on Breslow Thickness in Melanoma: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Simple Summary This retrospective cohort study of 475 cases of melanoma diagnosed at Erasme University Hospital (2017–2024) shows that dermatological screening is associated with thinner tumours and more melanoma in situ compared with first-visit diagnoses. Full-body examination detected earlier-stage disease than lesion-directed screening, while digital mole mapping identified significantly thinner invasive melanomas than dermoscopy, even after excluding first-visit cases. Screening and digital mole mapping had no significant benefit in low-risk patients. However, in high-risk patients, tumour thickness decreased with screening and digital mole mapping. These findings support risk-adapted screening strategies, with intensified, digitally supported follow-up recommended for high-risk groups.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  Cancers

• Publication date

  2026-01-30

• Fields of study

  Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/cancers18030461PMID 41681931PMCID 12897046
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Early detection of melanoma: Evaluating the combined use of total body photography and sequential digital dermoscopic imaging in a national health service setting.

  2025cited by this paper
• A Risk Prediction Tool for Invasive Melanoma

  2025cited by this paper
• Impact of skin cancer screening on melanoma thickness and stage.

  2024cited by this paper
• Long-term survival across Breslow thickness categories: findings from a population-based study of 210 042 Australian melanoma patients

  2024cited by this paper
• “One spot check”; a new strategy to increase dermatology access for worrisome skin lesions

  2024cited by this paper
• Global trends in cutaneous malignant melanoma incidence and mortality

  2024cited by this paper
• Risk Factors and Innovations in Risk Assessment for Melanoma, Basal Cell Carcinoma, and Squamous Cell Carcinoma

  2024cited by this paper
• European consensus-based interdisciplinary guideline for melanoma. Part 1: Diagnostics - Update 2024.

  2024cited by this paper
• Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence and Thickness of Cutaneous Melanoma in Belgium

  2023cited by this paper
• Long-Term Sequential Digital Dermoscopy of Low-Risk Patients May Not Improve Early Diagnosis of Melanoma Compared to Periodical Handheld Dermoscopy

  2023cited by this paper
• Risk of Melanoma in Patients with Basal Cell Carcinoma: A Population-based Cohort Study

  2023cited by this paper
• The effect of screening on melanoma incidence and biopsy rates

  2022influential reference
• Five-Year Outcomes of a Melanoma Screening Initiative in a Large Health Care System.

  2022influential reference
• Baseline and lifetime alcohol consumption and risk of skin cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort (EPIC)

  2022cited by this paper
• Are patients benefiting from participation in the German skin cancer screening programme? A large cohort study based on administrative data *

  2021influential reference
• The Rapid Rise in Cutaneous Melanoma Diagnoses.

  2021cited by this paper
• The Impact of Longitudinal Surveillance on Tumor Thickness for Melanoma-Prone Families with and without Pathogenic Germline Variants of CDKN2A and CDK4

  2021influential reference
• Lesion‐directed screening to optimize skin cancer detection in dermatology practice: an observational study

  2021influential reference
• Epidemiology of Melanoma

  2021cited by this paper
• Cutaneous melanoma attributable to UVR exposure in Denmark and Germany.

  2021cited by this paper
• Melanoma Epidemiology and Sun Exposure

  2020cited by this paper
• European consensus-based interdisciplinary guideline for melanoma. Part 1: Diagnostics - Update 2019.

  2020cited by this paper
• Germline mutations predisposing to melanoma

  2020cited by this paper
• The importance of total‐body photography and sequential digital dermatoscopy for monitoring patients at increased melanoma risk

  2020cited by this paper
• Total body photography for the diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma in adults: a systematic review and meta‐analysis *

  2020cited by this paper
• Epidemiologic Signatures in Cancer.

  2019cited by this paper
• Overdiagnosis: what it is and what it isn’t

  2018cited by this paper
• Dermoscopy, with and without visual inspection, for diagnosing melanoma in adults.

  2018cited by this paper
• Alcohol Intake and Risk of Incident Melanoma: A Pooled Analysis of Three Prospective Studies in the United States

  2016cited by this paper
• Melanoma burden and recent trends among non-Hispanic whites aged 15-49years, United States.

  2016cited by this paper
• Screening for reducing morbidity and mortality in malignant melanoma.

  2016cited by this paper
• Meta‐analysis of digital dermoscopy follow‐up of melanocytic skin lesions: a study on behalf of the International Dermoscopy Society

  2013cited by this paper
• Cutaneous melanoma attributable to sunbed use: systematic review and meta-analysis

  2012cited by this paper
• Increased risk of second primary cancers after a diagnosis of melanoma.

  2010cited by this paper
• Screening for Skin Cancer: An Update of the Evidence for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

  2009cited by this paper
• Monitoring of kindreds with hereditary predisposition for cutaneous melanoma and dysplastic nevus syndrome: results of a Swedish preventive program.

  2007cited by this paper
• Meta-analysis of risk factors for cutaneous melanoma: III. Family history, actinic damage and phenotypic factors.

  2005cited by this paper
• Single UVB overexposure stimulates melanocyte proliferation in murine skin, in contrast to fractionated or UVA-1 exposure.

  2005cited by this paper
• Increased incidence of melanoma in renal transplantation recipients

  2005cited by this paper
• Incidence of new and changed nevi and melanomas detected using baseline images and dermoscopy in patients at high risk for melanoma.

  2005cited by this paper
• Incidence and risk factors for the occurrence of non‐AIDS‐defining cancers among human immunodeficiency virus‐infected individuals

  2005cited by this paper
• Meta-analysis of risk factors for cutaneous melanoma: I. Common and atypical naevi.

  2005influential reference
• Healthy screened bias in epidemiologic studies of cancer incidence.

  1996influential reference

• No citing papers are available for this paper.