Non-visibility of Suspicious Lesions by Patients Leads to Later Detection of Melanoma

Background: Earlier detection of melanoma leads to better outcomes and a more favorable prognosis.[1] There is a relationship between anatomic location of melanoma and prognosis, but how visibility of the lesion relates to prognosis has not been studied.[2-5] We aimed to determine if visibility of suspicious lesions by patients leads to earlier diagnosis of melanoma. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 382 patients diagnosed with invasive melanoma at one institution between 8/1/2018 and 11/1/2021.