A study for people recently diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer to find out what made them go to the doctor

The study team found that there were a lot of reasons why people prolonged going to the doctor when they have a symptom that could be melanoma. People with both thinner and thicker melanomas didn’t recognise their skin changes at first as warning signs to see their GP. The study suggests there is a difference between the information people need when assessing changes to their skin and the information and images currently available.

63 people took part in this study. They had all been recently diagnosed with melanoma. The researchers interviewed everybody and asked

• What their early skin changes looked like, and how they changed over time
• If other members of their family had melanoma
• What they know about melanoma
• Who they talked to about their skin changes before deciding to go to the doctor
• What made them go to the doctor

The main reasons that people prolonged going to the doctor were that

• They weren’t sure what had caused the change to their skin and put it down to life changes such as getting older or pregnancy
• The skin change didn’t match the image of what they thought a melanoma looked like
• They were too busy with other things
• They didn’t want to waste their GP’s time

The study team also found that

• Many people went to see their doctor because family or friends told them to get the skin change checked out
• 11 people had already seen a health care professional about the skin change and had been told that it was nothing to worry about. Few were told how to keep an eye on the mole or when to see the doctor again
• Some people knew about the signs and symptoms of melanoma such as jagged edges or a change in the colour of a mole, but only a few knew that an itchy or bleeding mole was a bad sign
• Most people said that their skin change didn’t match the images that they had in their mind of what a melanoma looked like. These images were based on pictures they had seen, information they had read or a family member or friend who had melanoma

In this study, most people diagnosed with melanoma didn’t think that their skin changes were worth worrying about to begin with. The study team suggest that improving information and images of early melanomas and encouraging people to see their doctor straight away with these skin changes could help melanoma to be diagnosed earlier.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.