Dr Peter Kim recommends an Annual Skin Cancer Check (Eastwood Skin Cancer Clinic)
Early diagnosis of skin cancer is the key to saving lives.
As part of a complete early detection strategy, Dr Peter Kim recommends that you see a skin cancer doctor once a year, or more often if you are at a higher risk of skin cancer, for a full-body, professional skin exam. Similar recommendations have been adopted by the Skin Cancer Foundation and the American College of Dermatologists.
An argument for annual skin cancer check
There is a high chance that individuals living in Australia are likely to get skin cancer during their lives. Australia has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world. There is a one in three chance that an Australian will get skin cancer during their lifetime. Skin cancer has a high mortality rate in Australia, with over 1000 Australians dying each year from not detecting melanoma early.
Self-checking for skin cancer is not very effective because the general public may be looking at skin cancer and not know it is skin cancer. Dr Kim often diagnoses melanoma in people who did not know they had it and it was picked up during a routine skin cancer check. Self-skin check is not an effective way of diagnosing melanoma.
Why would people want to take the risk of missing cancer when they can have a professional check and give a clearance? People can’t see some parts of their body, such as their back or scalp.
The following photo is from a patient who presented for a routine skin check. Dr Kim clinically diagnosed melanoma which was histologically confirmed with a skin biopsy. Melanoma was excised. The melanoma was very early stage and did not require a Sentinel lymph node biopsy. The patient will be returning for a regular 3 month check for the first year and then 6 monthly. A skin lesion like is very difficult for public members to self-diagnose.
Given that Australia has a very high skin cancer rate, the public should get their skin cancer checked once a year by a doctor who performs a lot of skin cancer checks.
Early detection may save your life!
When a skin cancer check is bulk billed and the investigation required for diagnosis is simple – a skin biopsy – and can be done at the time of skin check at Eastwood Skin Cancer Clinic, there is no reason for delayed diagnosis of melanoma.
Please follow us on Facebook: EastwoodSkinCancer to see new skin cancer images every day. This may help you to pick up skin cancers early.
Dr Peter Kim
Eastwood Skin Cancer Clinic
