5 Facts you should know about

Melanoma

New cases of melanoma are increasing annually at almost 6%

It is estimated that the number of new melanoma cases diagnosed in 2021 will increase by 5.8 percent.

Melanoma can be colorless

While it’s true that many melanomas are dark brown to black in color, some melanomas have no color and appear as pink spots or bumps.

The majority of melanoma-related deaths occur in patients initially diagnosed with early-stage disease

There are an estimated 130,000 patients diagnosed with invasive, non-metastatic cutaneous melanoma annually in the US. Most of these patients (estimated to be more than 100,000) are diagnosed with early-stage (Stage I-II) disease. Despite recent advances in treatment, the majority of melanoma-related deaths occur in patients initially thought to be low risk.

The false-negative rate of the SLNB procedure is reported to be between 5-21%

While SLNB provides prognostic information the procedure has significant limitations including no survival benefit, low sensitivity, and a surgical complication rate of 11%.

Genomic testing more accurately identifies high-risk melanoma tumors than traditional staging alone

When compared with traditional staging, genomic testing can provide a more accurate and personalized assessment of the risk of tumors metastasizing or recurring.

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