{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T17:56:38Z","timestamp":1783619798163,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759968000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Oncol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Educational initiatives among young people are pivotal in promoting healthy behaviors, yet only a few studies to date have used peer education in schools to convey health messages for melanoma prevention. Here we report the results of a peer-education-based skin cancer prevention program combined with teledidactics (SUN Education and TELematic Learning \u2013 SUNTEL) targeting high school students in Italy.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>In 2023-2024, thirty third-year high school students attended training sessions to become peer educators and then conducted interventions across first-year students using a multimedia platform. Students targeted by the peer-education intervention completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires to assess changes in their knowledge, attitudes and behaviours regarding melanoma prevention. Marginal homogeneity tests were used to compare responses in the pre- vs. post-intervention questionnaires.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study population included 323 students (56.7% boys) mostly aged 14\u201316 years. Most participants had fair\/light dark skin (&amp;gt;97%); 24% had freckles, and over one third developed skin rash often\/always after UV exposure. Students\u2019 knowledge about melanoma risk factors and prevention, and attitude about UV exposure, changed significantly after the intervention, e.g., students wanting to use a tanning bed\/lamp dropped from 9.6% to 3.8% (p-value &amp;lt;0.001), and those aware that using a tanning bed\/lamp is as risky as tanning in the sun rose from 75.4% to 90.5% (p-value &amp;lt;0.001). Knowledge of the ABCDE rule rose from 7.5% to 96.6%; for the ugly duckling sign, the change was from 9.1% to 91.2%.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>e-learning\/web-based tools and peer-education proved highly effective in enhancing students\u2019 knowledge regarding melanoma prevention and recognition, proving comparably or even more effective compared to teachers-\/physicians-led educational approaches. Notably, this is the first school-based program to introduce the \u201cugly duckling\u201d sign, a simple and reproducible rule for early melanoma detection. Sustained message reinforcement and parental involvement will be key to achieving lasting behavioral change in sun safety.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fonc.2025.1665136","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T04:21:59Z","timestamp":1759983719000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["SUNTEL pilot study: first school-based integration of the ugly duckling sign and a dedicated e-learning platform with peer education for melanoma prevention"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Ignazio","family":"Stanganelli","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Serena","family":"Magi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elisabetta","family":"Costa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matelda","family":"Medri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Franca","family":"Gentilini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Scutell\u00e0","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniela","family":"De 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