A question I am always asked when I teach GPs to do a skin check is “how should we examine the scalp, and how important is this for skin cancer?”. This issue is, of course, how many skin cancers “hide” under hair, how do we examine the scalp under the hair, and how important is all this? Continue reading “[2 min read] Skin cancer checks on the scalp | Prof David Wilkinson” →

For a really useful, powerful and insightful overview of the situation with skin cancer in Australia, I recommend a new article published in the MJA to “celebrate” National Skin Cancer Action Week. Continue reading “[8 min read] Burden of skin cancer in Australia | Prof David Wilkinson” →

It is well known that vitamin D can be effective in the prevention of skin cancer, but the synthesis of vitamin D requires ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which is a known risk factor for melanoma. A new study investigated the correlations between serum vitamin D levels and risk and prognosis of melanoma. Continue reading “[2 min read] Correlation between vitamin D and melanoma risk and prognosis” →

In this month’s skin cancer update, Professor Giuseppe Argenziano discusses facial and non-facial lentiginous melanoma featuring real-life cases and some of his very own scholarly articles. Professor Argenziano draws on his previous research of lentiginous melanoma as a “newly defined entity”, and explores what you need to know about the special type of melanoma from a biological point of view.

Continue reading “[10 min watch] Skin Cancer Update with Professor Giuseppe Argenziano | September 2020” →

“As doctors we’re not meant to have favourite patients, are we? But we do. That’s reality.” In this short video, Dr Tony Dicker shares his most memorable patient as a skin cancer doctor; a 35-year-old lady pregnant with her first child who came in for a routine skin check, only to be diagnosed with melanoma.

Continue reading “[2 min watch] My most memorable patient: Dr Tony Dicker” →

In this short video, expert Dermatopathologist Dr Simon Clark speaks about the controversies surrounding dysplastic naevi. He discusses how it was once thought that lesions which previously had been diagnosed as melanoma were actually an intermediate lesion which were an obligate precursor of melanoma. This problem of dysplastic naevi has been entrenched for the past 30 years but is challenged by many experts in the field today. Continue reading “[3 min watch] Controversies in dermoscopy: Dysplastic naevi” →

In this month’s skin cancer update video, Professor Giuseppe Argenziano discusses re-excising skin lesions for which the histopathology results are unclear. Using real-life cases, Giuseppe explores what you should do when malignancies recur in sites where previous malignancies were excised, and how to manage these patients. Continue reading “[5 min watch] Skin Cancer Update with Prof Giuseppe Argenziano [August 2020]” →

In this month’s skin cancer update video, Professor Giuseppe Argenziano talks about the three possible outcomes that can be reached after you check a lesion: Excise, monitor, or do nothing. In most cases, lesions are either deemed suspicious and excised, or deemed safe and the patient goes home. Giuseppe warns that the other option – monitoring the lesion at follow-up appointments – should be used with caution and in limited cases. He goes through the scenarios in which monitoring the lesion is a good choice and how doctors can go about the follow-up procedure. Continue reading “[5 min watch] Skin Cancer Update with Prof Giuseppe Argenziano [July 2020]” →

“Even the best decision-making algorithms are not going to catch all the melanomas!” Skin Cancer Doctor Hamilton Ayres offers his top tips for catching difficult melanomas, especially those that don’t display many clues. Continue reading “[4 min watch] Top tips for catching difficult melanomas” →

In this month’s skin cancer update video, Professor Giuseppe Argenziano explores concepts around congenital naevi, in the last of a two-part series. He discusses how, if there is any precursor to melanoma, congenital naevi is the most important one.

Continue reading “[6 min watch] Skin Cancer Update with Prof Giuseppe Argenziano [June 2020]” →