Teaching Skin Self-Examination to First-degree Relatives of Melanoma Patients Using Mobile App Technology

Brief summary

Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.

The proposed study builds upon the success of our research program (STU00017005: Interventions to teach melanoma patients skin self-examination and the continuation STU0201983) designed to increase early detection of melanomas before they metastasize. This study seeks to expand the use of our efficacious skin self-examination (SSE) training program to first-degree relatives with automated support with reminders and the dermatologist coaching about pictures of moles submitted by user. In 2015 there are more than 1 million living melanoma patients in the United States (US), and almost 500,000 were age 40-60 years. If each melanoma patient has 2.79 first-degree relatives (children, and siblings of melanoma patients), then there are 2.79 million first-degree relatives and 1 million melanoma patients or 3.79 million people at-risk to develop melanoma, who are predominantly non-Hispanic White. A first-degree relative (FDR) is the parent, sibling or child of a melanoma patient. In 2015, approximately 73,870 individuals in the US will be diagnosed with invasive melanoma and about 9,940 will die from the disease. People with a history of melanoma have 10 times greater risk of developing a second new melanoma relative to the general population. A first-degree relative of a melanoma patient (parent, child, sibling) has an 8 times greater chance of developing melanoma. Early detection with surgical excision at an early stage when treatment is usually more effective is the only proven curative strategy. Thus, enhanced surveillance for melanoma patients and screening for their first-degree relatives, who have the same skin type (skin that easily sunburns) and melanoma-risk habits (sunny vacations) as the melanoma survivor, has the potential to detect melanomas in the early stages where treatment prognosis is optimal. Indeed, several societies recommend routine screening by a physician for persons with a family history of melanoma.

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Last update posted Nov 15, 2018 · Synced Sep 6, 2026

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