The farther patients have to travel to a reach a doctor to diagnose their melanoma, the more likely they are to have thicker skin cancer at diagnosis, according to a study led by Karyn B. Stitzenberg M.D., M.P.H., of the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Survival for patients with melanoma is dependent on the stage of the disease at diagnosis. As the depth of the tumor cells in the skin increases (known as the Breslow), the overall survival decreases. The researchers found that the median distance to a diagnosing physician was 8 miles and the median Breslow was 0.6 millimeters. For each one-mile increase in distance, the Breslow thickness increased by 0.6 percent.
