More than 1000 people die of skin cancer each year in Australia and a wave of smartphone apps has emerged to help with the early detection of the disease.
But specialists worry that their standalone use could result in “false reassurance” and endanger lives.
US researchers today released an investigation into four skin-checking apps and found that three of them classified 30 per cent or more of melanomas as harmless.
The study did not specifically name those tested.
A quick search on iTunes reveals similar apps for as little as $5, with names like Mole Detective, MelApp, Skin Scan, SpotCheck and Skin of Mine.
MelApp, for example, photographs the mole, measuring its asymmetry, color, diameter and development.
All the apps come with disclaimers urging users to see a qualified specialist to corroborate the results with an emphasis on early detection.
Specialists concede that periodic photographic documentation of skin moles done at home can help detect early irregularities.
But an Australian expert says he's “very worried” about the apps' method of analysing the data, which sometimes provides users with a 'green light' indication after assessing the mole as harmless.
“There would be false reassurance happening and potentially people dying from melanomas that they were being falsely reassured about,” Professor John Kelly said.
The Melbourne dermatologist, with 29 years' experience in the field, said there are some advantages to the smartphone technology.
“The more information the better, but I'd hope that people would make their own assessments on an app that cost five dollars,” he said.
Some of the dermatological apps, like 'Mole Detective', expressly state that “the only certain way to diagnosis a mole is through a biopsy” and argue that they only assist in early detection so that a specialist can be provided with more photographic evidence.
In fact, some Australian dermatological practices, such as Professor Kelly's, use a more comprehensive and expensive photographic technology called MoleMap to document the progression of moles on patients deemed high risk.
It costs $350 for a full-body MoleMap assessment, Professor Kelly said.
“I see six or eight people a day that use MoleMap, but the difference is that it uses a dermascope or a sub-dermal camera to see under the skin,” he said.
Two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they are 70 and skin cancers account for around 80 per cent of all newly diagnosed cancers.
“[The apps] may be just a more organised way of keeping photographs, and I'm all for that,” Professor Kelly said.
“But it is concerning if the smartphone app is reassuring people that things are benign.”
