NEW ORLEANS- National estimates of the incidence of malignant melanoma may be substantially off-base due to widespread underreporting of new cases to state cancer registries by dermatologists, results of a small survey suggest.
A survey of U.S. dermatologists indicates half are unaware of their legal obligation to report new cases of malignant melanoma to the cancer registries operative in all 50 states, Dr. Seema P. Kini reported at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Leaving aside the issue of familiarity with the legal reporting requirement, the survey also showed that 58% of responding dermatologists don't report new cases of malignant melanoma to their state cancer registry and don't know of anyone else in their practice doing so, added Dr. Kini of Emory University in Atlanta.
She and her coinvestigators conducted the survey at the cutaneous oncology symposium held during last year's annual meeting of the AAD. Among the 424 dermatologists in attendance, 104 practicing in 30 states completed the survey.
Dermatologists in practice for less than 10 years were 3.3-fold more likely to be unaware of the existence of the legal mandate and the established reporting procedures in place in all 50 states than were more experienced practitioners.
Fifty-four percent of dermatologists indicated they had diagnosed nine or fewer new cases of melanoma during the previous year. They were 2.9-fold less likely to report new cases of melanoma to their state cancer registry and to be unaware of anybody in their practice who did so than were dermatologists who reported finding 10 or more melanomas in the prior year.
While conceding that the survey sample size is a limitation and a larger study investigating American dermatologists' melanoma reporting practices is in order, this initial survey clearly suggests the existence of a problem, and that educational efforts aimed at improving melanoma reporting practices might well target younger physicians who diagnose fewer than 10 new melanomas annually, Dr. Kini concluded.
Dr. Kini declared having no relevant financial disclosures.