A better diagnosis

A new European system based on confocal imaging promises to improve detection and diagnosis rates for skin cancer by 20 per cent.

Recent statistics for Germany show that some 10 to 12 people in every 100,000 get the disease every year. This figure is growing at the rate of five to ten per cent annually. From the same group, some 140 will also get non-melanoma or less serious skin cancers.

“Diagnosis of skin cancers can take weeks, depending on the health system,” said Dr Jafer Sheblee, co-ordinator of the European Commission’s Information Society Technologies (IST) project EDISCIM.

“The process involves visits to a general practitioner and a hospital specialist,” continued Dr Sheblee. “With our new system, we hope to replace these visits with just one visit and by detecting skin cancer as early as possible, to offer patients the most complete treatment.”

Doctors can choose from some 40 different imaging techniques to detect and diagnose skin cancer, the simplest being a magnifying glass. Most techniques evaluate external skin features, such as colour or morphology. “But doctors need to look deeper into the basal layers, at least one millimetre down, to be sure of their diagnosis,” said Dr Sheblee.