In his own specialized skin cancer clinic, where he sees a more select patient population, Dr. Blum estimated that routine total body skin examination costs about $65,000 per melanoma death avoided. And when he plugged in the numbers provided by his colleague Dr. Ashfaq A. Marghoob, pertaining to the skin cancer clinic at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, Dr. Blum once again came up with a figure of roughly $65,000 per melanoma death avoided.
"The range is quite high. I think the cost debate will continue," Dr. Blum predicted.
He reported having no financial conflicts.
SDEF and this news organization are owned by Elsevier.