GPs who sub-specialise in skin cancer have a greater accuracy in diagnosing melanoma, mostly due to their use of dermatoscopy, a Queensland study suggests.
Primary care practitioners with an interest in skin cancer or who were dedicated skin cancer practitioners excised about half the number of benign lesions for each melanoma detected compared to their generalist GP counterparts, according to research (link) published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (online 9 Feb).
The study of 193 primary care doctors found that the number of lesions needed to treat (or excise) a melanoma was 17 for generalist GPs and around nine for doctors with an interest in skin cancer.
The data are based...
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