3D Total-Body Photography in Patients at High Risk for Melanoma: A Randomized Clinical Trial

H. Peter Soyer, MD; Dilki Jayasinghe, PhD; Astrid J. Rodriguez-Acevedo, PhD; Louisa G. Collins, PhD; Liam J. Caffery, PhD; David C. Whiteman, MD, PhD; Brigid Betz-Stablein, PhD; Sonya R. Osborne, PhD; Anna Finnane, PhD; Caitlin Horsham, MSc; Clare Primiero, PhD; Leonard C. Gray, MD, PhD; Monika Janda, PhD

Key Points

Question  Does the use of 3-dimensional (3D) total-body photography improve early detection of melanoma and other skin cancers in individuals at high risk of melanoma?

Findings  This randomized clinical trial including 314 patients at high risk of melanoma found that adding 3D total-body photography and sequential digital dermoscopy (via telehealth) to usual clinical surveillance increased the overall number of excisions. However, it did not change the average number of melanomas detected per person in the intervention group compared with the control group.

Meaning  These findings indicate that careful implementation is required to offset increased biopsies of benign lesions in patients at high risk, and further trials are needed in which 3D total-body photography is integrated with teledermatology services or compared with usual care instead of being offered as an add-on service.

To read the abstract please click here.