Can apps find skin cancer? Dermatologists are wary

Strange growth on your skin? Take a cellphone pic and view the app’s diagnosis.

There are several melanoma detection apps currently on the market. Some allow the user to track changes in growths on the skin; others determine whether a lesion seems cancerous.

But doctors have criticized the accuracy of these apps and fear they will discourage annual visits to dermatologists, whom they say can examine the entire body for a more accurate diagnosis. A 2013 study in JAMA Dermatology looked at four apps and found they missed 30 percent or more of skin lesions, which can spread to other parts of the body if left untreated.

Dr. Steven Rosenberg, a West Palm Beach dermatologist and former president of the Florida Society of Dermatology, said some marks on the skin are tough to diagnose, and he questioned whether an app would be helpful.

“The biggest problem is lesions in a gray area,” he said. ”Most of these programs can’t figure them out. You still end up doing a biopsy.”

South Florida’s dermatologists take lots of these biopsies. Despite their frequent entreaties that locals should slather on sunscreen, dermatologists say they are seeing a growing number of melanoma cases. The American Cancer Society says melanoma has been on the rise for the last 30 years.

The society says 87,110 new cases were diagnosed in 2017, with 9,730 people expected to die of it.

Melanomas occur when pigment-producing cells on the skin become cancerous. They can change in color, shape or feel, and it’s often hard to tell whether a mole that has been on the skin since birth merits a check by a specialist. If they are given a chance to grow, they can spread