Watts CG, McLoughlin K, Goumas C, et al. - Melanomas diagnosed during routine skin checks were identified to be related to significantly lower all-cause mortality, but not melanoma-specific mortality, post-adjustment for patient, sociodemographic, and clinicopathologic factors.

• This prospective, population-based, cohort study included 2,452 patients with melanoma to determine if melanomas diagnosed through routine skin checks (a proxy for skin cancer screening) are related to decreased melanoma-specific and all-cause death.

• In 858 patients (35%), melanoma was detected through a routine skin check.

• A 59% lower melanoma-specific mortality and 36% lower all-cause mortality was observed in relation to routine skin-check detection of invasive melanomas, adjusted for age and gender, vs patient-detected melanomas.

• Multivariable analyses revealed that routine skin-check detection was related to a subhazard ratio of 0.68 for melanoma-specific mortality and 0.75 for all-cause death vs patient-detected melanomas after a mean follow-up of 11.9 years.

• Being male, having previous melanoma, having many moles, being 50 years or older, and living in nonremote areas were found to be linked with higher odds of routine skin-check melanoma detection.