{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T19:01:04Z","timestamp":1790622064218,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,3]],"date-time":"2023-03-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1677801600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Acad Dermatol Venereol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>The COVID\u201019 lockdown had a dramatic impact on primary care access and resulted in postponed skin cancer screenings. This raises concerns for a diagnostic delay on primary cutaneous melanomas, which can subsequently increase morbidity and mortality.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of the COVID\u201019\u2010related restrictions on the melanoma diagnosis in five European skin cancer reference centres in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 7865 cutaneous melanoma cases were collected between 01 September 2018 and 31 August 2021. The time period was stratified into pre\u2010COVID (pre\u2010lockdown) and post\u2010COVID (lockdown and post\u2010lockdown) according to the established restrictions in each country. The data collection included demographic, clinical and histopathological data from histologically confirmed cutaneous melanomas. Personal and family history of melanoma, and presence of immunosuppression were used to assess the diagnosis delay in high\u2010risk individuals.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>There was an overall increase of the Breslow tumour thickness (mean 1.25\u2009mm vs. 1.02\u2009mm) during the post\u2010COVID period, as well as an increase in the proportion of T3\u2010T4 melanomas, rates of ulceration and the number of mitotic rates \u22652 (all, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.001). Patients with immunosuppression and personal history of melanoma showed a decrease in the mean log10\u2010transformed Breslow during lockdown and post\u2010COVID. In the multivariate analysis, age at melanoma diagnosis (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.01) and personal history of melanoma (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.01) showed significant differences in the mean Breslow thickness.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study confirms the diagnostic delay in cutaneous melanomas due to the COVID\u201019 lockdown. High\u2010risk individuals, such as patients with personal history of melanoma and elderly individuals, were more hesitant to restart their regular skin cancer screenings post\u2010COVID. Further studies with longer follow\u2010up are required to evaluate the consequences of this diagnostic delay in long\u2010term outcomes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/jdv.18953","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,14]],"date-time":"2023-02-14T08:17:16Z","timestamp":1676362636000},"page":"922-931","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["The impact of the <scp>COVID<\/scp>\u201019 pandemic on the diagnosis of cutaneous melanomas: A retrospective cohort study from five European skin cancer reference centres"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"37","author":[{"given":"Alexander","family":"Troesch","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology University Hospital Zurich  Zurich Switzerland"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine University of Zurich  Zurich Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Magdalena","family":"Hoellwerth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology and Allergology University Hospital of the Paracelsus Medical University  Salzburg Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1274-2613","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stephan","family":"Forchhammer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology Eberhard Karls University of T\u00fcbingen  Tuebingen Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Del\u00a0Regno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dermatology Universita' Cattolica  Rome Italy"},{"name":"Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. 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