A new device that looks very like a hair-dryer may soon be used across the country to find skin cancers. The hand-held scanner is called the MelaFind and is placed over suspicious lumps where it can establish if they may be cancerous within minutes.
On the rise
Figures show that we are nearly a quarter more likely to get skin cancer now as we were in the 1990’s, with 1,700 of us being diagnosed with terminal malignant melanoma every year. Some cases of the condition have been linked to occasional sunburn from our childhoods, which means it’s important to monitor our skin throughout our lives to look for mole changes. We should always visit a doctor if we have concerns about any moles/freckles. These can include uneven edges, bleeding from the mole or colour changes. GPs can give us further tests, but some cases of skin cancer can be missed if the outward appearance of the melanoma does not look suspicious. This is when the MelaFind can come in useful, giving a result in a short length of time.
Skin cells
When we have skin cancer, the cells that make up the tumour grow too fast. This makes them appear disorganised and a biopsy can reveal if the lesion is cancerous or not. The MelaFind doesn’t rely on biopsies or any invasive screening to establish whether our tumour could be malignant. Instead it bounces light over the mole and into our skin to a depth of a few millimetres. It can then analyse how the skin cells are arranged according to the light rays that return back to the device. As the waves penetrate below the skin to a short depth, it can even detect changes that are not visible and give us an idea if the melanoma has spread. The MelaFind could be so effective that it is expected to cut biopsy rates by a huge 90 per cent, although experts still recommend making an appointment with our doctors as soon as we feel worried about skin changes.
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