{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,6]],"date-time":"2026-04-06T05:38:14Z","timestamp":1775453894784,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775174400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003196","name":"Italian Ministry of Health","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003196","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: During the pandemic, access to healthcare was severely disrupted, inevitably affecting melanoma diagnosis. While this was clearly evident during the pandemic itself, it is less clear whether clinical presentation has returned to baseline levels in subsequent years. Our study aimed to compare the current clinical presentation of melanoma with that in the pre-pandemic setting. Methods: We conducted a retrospective multicenter study involving Italian melanoma referral centers within the SICO network. Patients with a newly diagnosed primary cutaneous melanoma were included in the study and were grouped into four time periods: pre-pandemic (March 2019 to February 2020); pandemic (March 2021 to February 2022); the first post-pandemic year (March 2022 to February 2023); and the second post-pandemic year (March 2023 to February 2024). Our focus was on clinically relevant features at diagnosis, including Breslow thickness, ulceration, stage and sentinel lymph node status. We evaluated differences across periods using regression models that accounted for the multicenter design. Results: A total of 4938 patients were included in the study. Compared with the pre-pandemic period, melanomas diagnosed during and after the pandemic were thicker, more frequently ulcerated and more likely to be in stages II\u2013III. The rate of sentinel lymph node positivity also increased. Notably, these patterns did not normalize over time, remaining evident even in the second post-pandemic year. The results were consistent after adjusting for age and sex. Conclusions: In this large Italian study, melanoma continues to be diagnosed at a later stage than in the pre-pandemic period. This persistent shift may reflect a combination of delayed access to care and ongoing system-level constraints. These findings emphasize the importance of restoring timely access to dermatological evaluation and reinforcing early detection strategies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15072715","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,6]],"date-time":"2026-04-06T02:06:21Z","timestamp":1775441181000},"page":"2715","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Clinical Characteristics at the Diagnosis of New Primary Melanoma in Italy: A Multicenter Retrospective Study Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Elisabetta","family":"Pennacchioli","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Soft Tissue Sarcomas and Rare Tumors, European Institute of Oncology, IRCCS, 20141 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4945-5677","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Nespoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General and Emergency Surgery, School of Medicine and Surgery, Milano-Bicocca University, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Via Pergolesi 33, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dario","family":"Piazzalunga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Surgery, Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital, 24100 Bergamo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Virginia","family":"Caliendo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Dermatologic Surgery Section, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria (AOU) Citt\u00e0 della Salute e della Scienza, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Piero","family":"Rossi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento Di Scienze Chirurgiche, Universit\u00e0 di Roma Tor Vergata, Policlinico Tor Vergata Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Roma, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9652-5148","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Clementi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Surgical Unit, Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L\u2019Aquila, 67100 L\u2019Aquila, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Matteo","family":"Mascherini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Sciences and Integrated Diagnostic DISC, University of Genoa, 16100 Genoa, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genoa, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ferdinando","family":"Cananzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sarcoma, Melanoma and Rare Tumors Surgery Unit, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, 20089 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8958-621X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Salvatore","family":"Asero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Soft Tissue U.O. Surgical Oncology-Soft Tissue Tumors, Dipartimento di Oncologia, Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nazionale e di Alta Specializzazione Garibaldi Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Corrado","family":"Carac\u00f2","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Surgery of Melanoma and Skin Cancer, Istituto Nazionale Tumori \u2018Fondazione Pascale\u2019 IRCCS, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Paolo","family":"Carcoforo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, Section of General Surgery, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2862-8014","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paolo","family":"Del Fiore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Soft-Tissue, Peritoneum and Melanoma Surgical Oncology Unit, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, 35128 Padua, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"Coppola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Soft Tissue Sarcomas and Rare Tumors, European Institute of Oncology, IRCCS, 20141 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Martina","family":"Pellegrini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Surgery, Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital, 24100 Bergamo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6063-7930","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chiara","family":"Trevisiol","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Soft-Tissue, Peritoneum and Melanoma Surgical Oncology Unit, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, 35128 Padua, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Franco","family":"Picciotto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Dermatologic Surgery Section, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria (AOU) Citt\u00e0 della Salute e della Scienza, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maria Gabriella","family":"Valente","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General and Emergency Surgery, School of Medicine and Surgery, Milano-Bicocca University, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Via Pergolesi 33, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4691-9381","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cosimo","family":"Di Raimondo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento Di Scienze Chirurgiche, Universit\u00e0 di Roma Tor Vergata, Policlinico Tor Vergata Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Roma, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7763-3357","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Irene","family":"Tucceri 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Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0831-3971","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesco","family":"Cavallin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Independent Statistician, 36020 Solagna, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2216-3807","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandra","family":"Buja","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiological, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padua, Via Loredan, 18, 35127 Padua, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-7480-8939","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pietro","family":"Gallina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Directorate General, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, 35128 Padua, 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