Study of patients with melanoma finds most have few moles

Melanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer. It is what President Jimmy Carter has been treated for.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-03/tjnj-sop030116.php

Public Release: 2-Mar-2016
Study of patients with melanoma finds most have few moles
The JAMA Network Journals

Most patients with melanoma had few moles and no atypical moles, and in patients younger than 60, thick melanomas were more commonly found in those with fewer moles but more atypical moles, according to an article published online by JAMA Dermatology.

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The study included 566 patients with melanoma and most of them (66.4 percent or 376) had zero to 20 total moles, while 73.3 percent (415 patients) had no atypical moles.

In patients younger than 60, having more than 50 total moles was associated with reduced risk for thick melanoma, while having more than five atypical moles compared with no atypical moles was associated with thicker melanoma, according to the results.

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