Rising global temperatures, leading to  an increased risk of exposure to UV radiation, and an ageing population, are two additional factors that are increasing skin cancer incidence rates in the UK. At the same time, the general public’s increased awareness of skin changes are also leading to growing numbers of GP visits. There are 13 million GP appointments each year for skin concerns and suspected skin cancer is now the most common reason for a GP cancer referral to hospital.

Faster diagnoses for skin cancer patients

The challenge of meeting rising patient demand is being compounded by NHS workforce shortages – a staggering 24% of consultant dermatologist posts are currently unfilled. Recruiting for empty dermatologist roles is not a quick fix solution, but it may be possible to extend dermatology capacity in a different way, by using technology to speed up current diagnostic pathways.

For example, AI technology can be trained to accurately determine whether a lesion is skin cancer, a pre-malignant skin condition or a common – but harmless – skin cancer mimic that does not require further action. By focusing on dermatoscopic images, these technologies are able to detect patterns indicative of cancer that are often invisible to the naked eye or in ordinary photographs.

AI medical devices, which are increasingly being rolled out across secondary care, are able to detect cancer in patients within minutes, and some of these tech solutions are already being implemented by NHS trusts across the UK including West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospital of Birmingham. Earlier this year, the NHS announced it would be accelerating the rollout of these services – which aim to speed up skin cancer diagnoses and treatment for tens of thousands of patients – across dermatology departments and GP surgeries nationwide.

The struggle to meet targets

The growing demand for dermatology services combined with the limited clinical capacity of dermatology teams means that despite significant efforts from dermatology departments, there has been a considerable increase in waiting lists. NHS data shows that at the end of last year more than one in ten (11%) of urgent skin cancer referrals were waiting over four weeks for a first assessment. Over 380,000 people are waiting longer than 18 weeks.

It is critical that more trusts are given access to these technologies if they are to solve service pressures and combat the long waits currently experienced by patients. Diagnostic delays acutely impact patient outcomes in skin cancer patients – delays of just two weeks or more have been shown to lead to a 20% decrease in patient five-year-survival rates. Skin cancer survival rates improve dramatically with early diagnosis and treatment and, when caught early, survival rates exceed 95%. When caught late, they drop to as low as 8%.

NHS England’s recent proposal – which has replaced the 2 Week Wait (2WW) with the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) – is therefore a sensible one. The FDS would require that suspected skin cancer patients receive a diagnosis, or the all clear, within four weeks. However, without transformational shifts in the way cancer pathways are deployed we simply cannot expect understaffed dermatology teams to deliver on these ambitious goals, especially considering the growing incidences of skin cancer. New, ambitious targets in and of themselves will be ineffective at improving cancer survivability rates. Rather, to guarantee success, targets need to be accompanied by widely accessible solutions that improve patient triaging, increase dermatology workforce capacity and pave the way to faster treatment.

Opening up better access to skin cancer assessments

Effective tech solutions to ever-growing backlogs aren’t about replacing highly-specialised dermatologists with automated tools, but rather about effectively triaging patients into the right place at the right time. Preserving valuable dermatologist capacity in this way will help provide better access to skin cancer assessments for those patients in urgent need – the critical first step to helping more people survive the disease.

While the ambitious new FDS target is a step in the right direction, trusts simply won’t be able to meet escalating dermatology demands with existing resources, unless access to innovative solutions are accelerated.

By Neil Daly, CEO and Founder of Skin Analytics

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A lady who wants to stay healthy and enjoy her life to the max at any age should have systematic preventive medical screenings. These tests will allow you to detect any potential health conditions at an early stage. You’ll be able to prevent them medical or get rid of them while it’s still easy and not too costly to do so. In this article, you’ll find a list of ten essential medical tests that every woman aged 18+ should have regularly to improve her quality of life.

Blood Pressure Screening

Starting at age 20, you should have this test at least once every two years. Annual medical screenings are recommended for the following types of individuals:

• Ladies aged 40+
• African-Americans
• Patients with conditions like obesity that put them at increased risk for hypertension

The ideal reading should be below 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).

Cholesterol Check

People aged 20+ should measure their cholesterol levels at least once every five years. The ideal reading is less than 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl). A borderline high reading falls within the range from 200 to 239 mg/dl. This indicator reflects your risk of developing heart disease or stroke. If you belong to the right-risk group, the doctor should recommend an individual checkup schedule to you.

Pap Smears

The target audience of this test is females aged 21 to 65. They should have a Pap smear every three years. Ladies aged 30+ might want to have it every five years if they combine it with a screen for HPV.

The medical professional will widen the lady’s vaginal canal with a speculum and use a small brush to take cells from the cervix. The examination of these cells enables the doctor to detect changes that might lead to cervical cancer.

Mammograms

This term denotes screening for breast cancer. During the procedure, your breast will be compressed between plates to capture X-ray images. Opinions are split on the optimal frequency of this type of test. On the one hand, the risk for breast cancer increases with age. On the other hand, the more often you have mammograms, the more likely they would be to deliver false-positive results. Some medical professionals state that ladies aged 45+ should have yearly screenings — and starting from the age of 55, they should do it once in two years. However, according to another expert recommendation, ladies don’t need to have mammograms until they hit 50 — and the screening should be biannual. You might consider starting annual screening earlier if you have a family history of the disease or other related concerns.

Bone Density Screening

The medical professional will ask you to lie on a table to let a low-dose X-ray machine capture images of your bones. This screening test allows the doctor to assess your bone density and detect osteoporosis. You should have your first screening at the age of 65. But if you have low body weight or had fractures, you might need to start earlier. After you have your first test, the doctor will determine the optimal screening frequency for you.

Blood Glucose Tests

Ladies aged around 45 should have such a test every three years. It will enable the doctor to evaluate your risks of developing diabetes. You might need to have this type of screening more frequently and start it earlier if you meet one of the following criteria:

• Are obese
• Have a family history of diabetes
• Are of a race or ethnicity that’s at particular risk

If your reading is greater than 126 mg/dl, it might mean you have diabetes. A reading that falls within the range from 100 mg/dl to 126 mg/dl typically indicates a prediabetic state.

Colon Cancer Screening

You should start having this test as soon as you hit 50. You can have it either at a hospital or at your doctor’s office. The first type of colon screening is called colonoscopy. The medical professional will insert a long tube in your anus to examine the entire colon. You should repeat this procedure every 10 years. The second type of screening is known as sigmoidoscopy. In this case, the doctor will examine only the lower part of your colon using a camera and a lighted tube. You should undergo sigmoidoscopy every 5 years.

Body Mass Index

There is no one-fits-all standard when it comes to BMI. Based on this indicator, your doctor will be able to understand whether you are obese or not. If you are, you’ll be more likely to develop heart disease, diabetes and some other health issues. You should have this type of screening every year after you turn 18. Your doctor will tell you about the optimal frequency.

Skin Examination

Ladies should examine the skin all over their bodies every month, looking for any new moles or changes to existing moles. You can easily do this at home, without third-party help. If you detect anything suspicious, you should see the doctor as soon as possible because these might be early signs of skin cancer. If you have a family history of this disease or have other risk factors, you should consult a medical professional about having regular in-office exams.

Dental Checkup

This type of test includes the following manipulations:

• Examining the teeth
• Cleaning
• Having X-rays, if necessary

You should have this checkup every six months at any age. Thanks to such a frequency, your dentist will be able to detect signs of decay and any other problems at an early stage.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this article came in handy and now you better understand which type of tests you should have to stay healthy. Many of them are considered preventive, so your insurance plan might cover them. Otherwise, some screenings might be rather pricey — so you should consult your insurance company before making appointments. To find the most experienced and reliable doctors in your area, you might want to use tripment.com. This service should help you to get in touch with top medical professionals that can carry out any type of test.

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With the bodystudio ATBM master, FotoFinder Systems GmbH is now introducing an imaging system that enables physicians to take a new approach to the digital diagnosis of skin cancer. It delivers results in a matter of seconds and can significantly reduce the need for biopsies and excisions.

Since 2013, FotoFinder has focused on the earliest skin cancer diagnosis through Automated Total Body Mapping (ATBM) for fully automated photo documentation of the entire skin surface. Now, the company goes one step further with the new bodystudio ATBM master.

Total Body Dermoscopy is the name of the method by which the entire skin surface is photographed with a special camera and flash system without any reflections and with super-high resolution. This results in excellent clinical images that allow the physician to zoom into the full body photo to such an extent that the microscopic structure of a mole is visible in the overview image. The doctor receives visual support from the fully automatic Bodyscan software, which quickly identifies the existing skin lesions in the whole body image and arranges them according to their relevance. In this way, the physician can quickly “scan” the moles visually without having to examine each one individually using a dermatoscope. Only the few moles that are atypical or suspicious are analysed with the digital dermatoscope. This leads to considerable time savings and enables the detection of even the smallest abnormalities: A fact that can save lives in extreme cases. In any case, the waiting time for the diagnosis and thus also uncertainty and anxiety are considerably shortened. In addition, this method reduces the sometimes painful excision of one or more tissue samples.

“The future of skin cancer diagnostics lies in innovative, intelligent, time-saving solutions,” explains Kathrin Niemela, member of the FotoFinder management board. “Modern analysis methods are largely digital and support physicians in finding abnormalities in many ways.”

Contrary to the widespread opinion, most melanomas do not develop from an existing mole, but appear as new spots, “de novo”, on apparently healthy skin. In most cases, the disease begins with an optically barely perceptible spot, often just 1mm in size, which can however, already contain a malignant cell population of thousands. It is precisely these extremely small lesions that are often overlooked in a classic dermatological examination. Whole-body cartography with the new master technology visualises the moles of a patient in such a way that new lesions become visible at a glance.

The physician is supported in the analysis and risk assessment of skin lesions by the expert software Moleanalyzer pro, which works with a powerful AI-based deep learning algorithm. According to a clinical study carried out by the Department of Dermatology at Heidelberg University Hospital, AI came up with more accurate diagnostic results than the medical specialists involved in the study – and it only takes the system less than a second each time.*

For patients, the use of Automated Total Body Mapping in combination with AI means greater reliability in the earliest detection of skin cancer. “Compared to the more intuitive approach of a physician, who also includes patient history or genetic predisposition in the diagnosis, the algorithm is absolutely objective in its analysis”, explains Kathrin Niemela from FotoFinder. “The larger, better and more unique the data basis is, the more intelligent the system becomes in a short period of time, thanks to continuous training. Nevertheless, AI cannot replace human intelligence and experience in the detection of skin cancer: In the end, the doctor decides what to do.”

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