{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T07:11:19Z","timestamp":1771830679056,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771804800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003196","name":"Ministero della Salute","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003196","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005010","name":"Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005010","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Oncol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In Europe, insufficient data exist to assess the magnitude and results of screening practice for cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) among children and adolescents. In this population-based study covering part of the Emilia-Romagna Region (northern Italy), multiple indicators of screening for CMM by patient age were evaluated.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The current population of the study area is over 2,600,000. The records of patients with CMM (2003-2017) were extracted from the Emilia-Romagna Cancer Registry. The records of dermatologic office visits and skin biopsies were downloaded from the outpatient healthcare database of the Regional Administration. Patient age was grouped as 0-19 (children and adolescents), 20-39, 40-59, 60-79, and \u226580 years. The study endpoints were in situ\/invasive CMM incidence rate, Breslow tumor thickness distribution, mortality rate, dermatologic office visit rate, skin biopsy rate, number (of patients) needed to visit (NNV) and biopsy (NNB) to detect a case of disease, and the potential number of life-years saved, equivalent to the number of years of life expectancy left at diagnosis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Data for 11,679 patients, 4,593,988 dermatologic office visits and 849,343 skin biopsies were obtained. Patients aged 0-19 years (n=51) accounted for 0.4% of total incident CMM cases, 0.3% of total deaths from CMM, and 1.4% of total potential number of life-years saved. The annual dermatologic office visit rate at age 0-19 years was 9.2%. The NNV was 11,362.2 at age 0-19 years versus 305.6 in the middle-aged group of 40-59 years (ratio, 37.2). The NNB was 681.5 and 66.4, respectively (ratio, 10.3). The total potential number of life-years saved was 2939.9 versus 98,382.2, respectively (ratio, 0.03).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>When screening children and adolescents for CMM, a trade-off between life-years saved and unnecessary biopsies is impossible to make because of the minimal prevalence and the ill-defined clinical\/dermoscopic features of the disease.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fonc.2026.1726375","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T06:43:56Z","timestamp":1771829036000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Screening children and adolescents for cutaneous malignant melanoma: the impossible trade-off between life-years saved and unnecessary 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