Spotting sinister spots: A challenge to dermatologists to examine every new patient at increased risk for signs of early melanoma

Preventing death from malignant melanoma is the most pressing issue in preventive dermatology in the United States because the mortality rate has increased markedly. Dermatologists, as the physicians best suited by training to identify early malignant melanoma, need to take the lead in developing a national project of educating physicians, patients, and the public to recognize the clinical features of early malignant melanoma and to appreciate that prompt excision results in a high rate of cure. The immediate challenge is to commit ourselves to examining every new patient and to conducting periodic "skin scans" of every patient at increased risk for melanoma. Just as the Papanicolaou screening test has markedly reduced cervical cancer mortality rates, commitment to early identification and excision of melanomas can mean a comparable triumph for preventive dermatology and will help us meet the challenge of our Australian colleagues to make melanoma a word , not a death sentence .