Researchers investigated melanoma incidence and presentation in 60,680 Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black, and Pacific Islander individuals.The median age of the cohort was 51 years, and 60% were female.Most patients were Black , while 14.5% were Asian, 6.8% were Hispanic, 1.2% were American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.4% were Pacific Islander.
A total of eight melanomas were diagnosed over the study period: three in screened and five in unscreened individuals, including one nodular and one acral lentiginous subtype in unscreened Blacks. Of the eight melanomas, one was identified during a screening visit, two by the patient or a family member, and four by clinicians during visits for reasons other than skin cancer screening.
All patients with melanoma had seen their primary care clinician at least once in the 6 months prior to diagnosis, which the authors point out, suggested"potential missed opportunities for earlier diagnosis or that rapidly growing melanomas are less amenable to early physician detection through periodic screening.""The low absolute number of melanomas but their more aggressive nature, particularly in Black individuals...