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Investigating Automated Melanoma Screening for Newly Acquired Lesions

Emily Cowen

Mentor Veronica Rotemberg, MD, PhD
Award Type Medical Student Award
Institution Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Donor Support Looney Legacy Foundation
Description:

Melanoma is one of the most common cancers in the United States. We know that early diagnosis improves how patients diagnosed with melanoma do over time. New moles noticed by patients or doctors in adults are often worrisome for early melanoma. However, many of these moles are not found to be melanoma once removed. Using a handheld microscope, called a dermatoscope, improves dermatologists’ ability to find melanoma, but not every dermatologist uses a dermatoscope, and in areas where there are very few or no dermatologists, primary care doctors are unlikely to use them. Automatic computer diagnosis tools could be a cheaper and accurate way to help these doctors screen for melanoma in new lesions. We will test these tools on new moles and melanomas. These results will help us understand the potential uses of automatic diagnosis tools in new lesions in practice to help diagnose melanoma.