WAIKOLOA, HAWAII – Armed with dermoscopy and reflective confocal microscopy, dermatologists have been “pushing the envelope and becoming better and better at detecting melanoma and limiting the number of benign lesions being removed,” said Dr. Ashfaq A. Marghoob.
Dermoscopy – now used by about 75% of dermatologists in the United States – has lowered the benign-to-malignant ratio to about 5:1, Dr. Marghoob explained. That’s five benign nevi removed for every one melanoma found.
In an interview at the Hawaii Dermatology Seminar, Dr. Marghoob of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, discussed the impact that new technologies such as reflectance confocal microscopy are having on finding melanomas and differentiating them from benign nevi.
The Hawaii Dermatology Seminar is provided by the Global Academy for Medical Education/Skin Disease Education Foundation. The SDEF and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.
Dr. Marghoob had no disclosures.