According to the latest published statistics by the NIH, there are almost half a million individuals who are cancer survivors after having been diagnosed with cancer at some point in their childhood or adolescence. These individuals may have a higher chance of developing additional types of cancer as they age, be it due to their family history, treatments they received for their cancer as children, or due to factors in their environments. Not much is known about the frequency by which these individuals develop a type of skin cancer called melanoma; after their first initial diagnosis of cancer as children or adolescents. Furthermore, although adult cancer survivors are monitored yearly with skin exam check-ups to look for early signs of possible skin cancer, the childhood cancer survivor population does not currently undergo such rigorous monitoring after they are treated for their initial cancer. Therefore, to
gain a better understanding of the frequency by which childhood cancer survivors develop melanoma we will be conducting a study to review the charts of hundreds of patients who are now childhood cancer survivors, with the goal that we can offer future patients better monitoring plans to hopefully guide future surveillance and prevention strategies.