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Invasive Scalp Melanoma: Role for Enhanced Detection Through Professional Training

  • Melanomas
  • Published:
Annals of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Scalp and neck melanomas (SNMs) have a relatively poor prognosis compared to other sites, and represent an anatomically challenging area for detection. The aim of this study was to identify the role of the hairdresser in detection of SNMs.

Methods

A tertiary surgical oncology institutional database was retrospectively reviewed for all patients undergoing resection of a scalp, posterior neck, or retro auricular invasive primary melanoma between 2008 and 2014.

Results

SNMs accounted for 128 melanoma patients during the study period, with median age 66 years, 88 % male, and median Breslow thickness 1.55 mm. Hairdressers detected 10 % of all SNMs, with hairdresser-detected SNMs presenting 13 years younger (53 vs. 66 years, P = 0.015), and with a trend towards lower Breslow depth (1.15 vs. 1.63) and more frequent discovery in AJCC Stage Ia or Ib (66.7 % vs. 44.8 %) than otherwise-detected SNMs. Women with SNMs were 1.8-fold more likely than men to have their SNMs detected by a hairdresser (P = 0.001), and presented at higher AJCC clinical stage than men and required wider surgical resection margins (P = 0.011). Women with hairdresser-detected SNMs were younger, with lower Breslow thickness and lower AJCC Clinical Stage than women with otherwise-detected SNM.

Conclusion

This study suggests that hairdressers play a critical role in detection of invasive primary scalp and neck melanoma, accounting for 10 % of all melanomas referred to a tertiary surgical oncology center. Quality improvement initiatives aimed at increasing early detection of scalp and neck melanoma should include members of the cosmetology community.

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Acknowledgment

Presented as a poster at the 2015 Society of Surgical Oncology Annual Cancer Symposium at Houston, Texas, March 2015.

Disclosures and Funding Sources

None to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Brendan P. Lovasik BA, Maria C. Russell MD, Keith A. Delman MD & Monica Rizzo MD

  2. Department of Surgery, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA

    Ishna Sharma MD

  3. Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Grant W. Carlson MD

Authors
  1. Brendan P. Lovasik BA
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  2. Ishna Sharma MD
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  3. Maria C. Russell MD
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  4. Grant W. Carlson MD
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  5. Keith A. Delman MD
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  6. Monica Rizzo MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Monica Rizzo MD.

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Lovasik, B.P., Sharma, I., Russell, M.C. et al. Invasive Scalp Melanoma: Role for Enhanced Detection Through Professional Training. Ann Surg Oncol 23, 4049–4057 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-016-5334-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-016-5334-9

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