MySmartSkin Intervention in Melanoma Patients
Introduction
Currently, there are over 90,000 cases of malignant melanoma in the United States. It is the 5th most commonly diagnosed cancer. In fact, over 1.2 million citizens are living with this specific disease. Compared to other cancers, this cancer, melanoma, has increased quickly over time. Individuals with this disease are at high risk of disease recurrence sometime in the future, if not treated immediately.
To prevent the disease from getting worse, doctors recommend patients take preventative measures such as reducing the exposure to UV light, getting checked up regularly, and wear sun protection.
Background
Melanoma is a form skin cancer that develops when melanocytes (the brown stuff you see in pictures) begin to grow out of control, and can spread to other parts of the body. It is less common than other skin cancers, yet deadly if not treated properly. Typically, melanoma can develop anywhere on the skin but typically starts on the chest and back in men and on the legs for women. The exact cause isn’t clear, but prolonged exposure to UV radiation is likely the reason. Thus, it is best to limit the exposure to UV radiation to help reduce that risk.
Study Description
This project involves two phases. The first phase (phase 1) deals with the development of the MySmartSkin intervention. This intervention is basically an online web based intervention where participants report their characteristics into the program and are expected to follow up and such. The second phase (phase 2) deals with evaluating the impact of the MySmartSkin (trt) vs usual care (control) on sun protection behaviors among individuals diagnosed with melanoma. Patients with this disease were recruited into the study, randomized (given either trt or ctrl), and are expected to follow up through online surveys taken at baseline, and then at 8 weeks, 24 weeks, and 48 weeks post baseline.
Results
From the N=441 patients that are surveyed into the study, we observe that from the intervention, there was a slight-decrease in tumor size for certain body parts. At the same time, there was also a slight-decrease in in tumor size for certain body parts for the control group. However, the difference in tumor size is rather minimal (at most 5% deviation, depending on the body-part) for both the treatment and control group.
| Body Area | Examined (%) | Examined (n) | Examined (%) | Examined (n) | Examined (%) | Examined (n) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scalp | 37.9 | 108 | 39.6 | 55 | 36.3 | 53 |
| Face | 98.3 | 282 | 99.3 | 138 | 97.3 | 144 |
| Neck | 89.8 | 256 | 90.7 | 126 | 89.0 | 130 |
| Shoulders | 88.2 | 253 | 87.8 | 122 | 88.5 | 131 |
| Front of arms | 97.9 | 280 | 98.6 | 137 | 97.3 | 143 |
| Back of arms | 79.8 | 229 | 78.4 | 109 | 81.1 | 120 |
| Chest | 93.7 | 268 | 94.2 | 130 | 93.2 | 138 |
| Stomach | 87.7 | 250 | 87.7 | 121 | 87.8 | 129 |
| Upper back | 54.9 | 157 | 55.1 | 76 | 54.7 | 81 |
| Lower back | 48.8 | 139 | 50.0 | 69 | 47.6 | 70 |
| Front of legs | 94.0 | 266 | 93.4 | 128 | 94.5 | 138 |
| Back of legs | 72.6 | 204 | 71.3 | 97 | 73.8 | 107 |
| Bottom of feet | 41.6 | 119 | 40.6 | 56 | 42.6 | 63 |
| Buttocks | 40.4 | 116 | 39.6 | 55 | 41.2 | 61 |
| Genitals | 44.4 | 127 | 42.0 | 58 | 46.6 | 69 |
Conclusion
The purpose of this project was to test the web-based intervention among individuals diagnosed with skin cancer. From the results, we see that there is minimal difference between the effects of this intervention vs that of the control group. This article mentions that further research must be done to better improve this intervention in prevention skin-cancer.