New app scans moles and freckles to determine if they’re cancerous – and it’s already saving lives
Half of Brits who die of skin cancer could have survived if it had been found earlier, and now there's an app to diagnose from home
TWICE as many people die of skin cancer in Britain as in Australia – and a big reason why is our reluctance to slap on sun cream and a hat.
More than 90 per cent of melanomas in Oz are curable as they are detected so early.
But HALF of Brits who die of skin cancer could have lived if they visited a doc earlier, says Cancer Research.
A new app aims to change all that. SkinVision provides a “risk rating” for skin cancer that claims to be 83 per cent accurate. It uses photos of a person’s moles taken on their smartphone.
SkinVision’s Dick Uyttewaal says: “Skin cancer is the second most common cancer in the UK. We have a relatively small number of specialist dermatologists – 400 compared to over 3,000 in Germany, for instance.”
Caroline Salmon says the app saved her life. The Cambridgeshire 49-year-old, who is mum to Beatrice, 18, and William, 16, says:
"I’ve always had fair skin but loved nothing more than the great outdoors. I took what I thought were sensible precautions – wearing sun cream on holiday and avoiding sunbeds – but like so many Brits, I seldom used sun cream in the UK.
"I remarried in September and on honeymoon in Bali I noticed a freckle about two inches above my right ankle seemed bigger.
"Alarm bells didn’t ring until a couple of months later when, in an idle moment, I downloaded SkinVision.
"I filled in the questionnaire, took a picture of that freckle, submitted it and within 60 seconds got a message describing it as 'high risk'.
"So I rushed straight to my GP. My freckle was slightly raised and dark and didn’t look like any of the “beware” melanomas on the skin cancer chart he had.
"But to be safe, he referred me to a consultant dermatologist, who didn’t seem overly worried.
"He agreed I could have it removed, however, so in March I went back and in a 45-minute operation, had a massive chunk of my flesh cut out, leaving a scar 3in long.
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"The freckle was sent off to be biopsied.
"Four weeks later, I got a call from my GP – he sounded very serious and told me that freckle was a low-grade melanoma in situ.
"I remember going numb and then the moment the call was over, I burst into tears.
"If I hadn’t installed the app and insisted on getting treatment, it could have spread and I wouldn’t be here now for my kids."
— The SkinVision app is available on Android and iPhone. It is free for the first month, then £18.99 for 12 months