The Impact of Total Body Skin Examination on Skin Cancer Detection (TBSE)

April 14, 2010 updated by: Medical University of Graz

This will be a study where all patients will undergo a two-step procedure:

Step 1 - Physicians examine the problem area of skin ONLY and record result. Step 2 - Physicians perform TBSE and record result. Eventual lesions suggestive of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers will be recorded after step 1 or step 2 examination and will be finally biopsied and histopathologically diagnosed. Exceptions to biopsy may include patients with multiple non-melanoma skin cancers (e.g. actinic keratoses or basal cell carcinomas).

Each center will be provided with an electronic data sheet for patients record, or alternatively, with a paper record form.

Endpoints of the study are new parameters concerning the standard of care for skin cancer screening. We expect to conclude that TBSE enables clinicians discovering an increased number of skin cancers thus resulting in earlier detection.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Clinicans performed a two-step examination for skin cancer, with clinical examination of individual lesions was aided by the use of dermoscopy, as needed. In the first step, physicians performed inspection of problem areas and uncovered areas only, and lesions suggestive of melanoma or non-melanoma skin cancer were noted. In the second step, TBSE was performed. Following both examinations, lesions suggestive of melanoma or non-melanoma skin cancer were excised or biopsied. Histopathologic diagnosis was recorded for each of the biopsied or excised lesions.

Statistical analysis: We calculated absolute risks as the proportion of individuals with the target disease divided by all individuals at risk. The number needed to examine was calculated by dividing the individuals at risk by the numbers of individuals with the target disease. Confidence intervals for proportions were calculated using standard formulas based on the binomial distribution. Chi square tests were used for comparison of proportions.

Continuous variables are presented as mean and standard deviation (SD) unless otherwise specified. For univariate and multivariate analyses we used odds ratios derived from logistic regression to estimate relative risks and their confidence intervals. All p-values reported are 2-tailed. Statistical significance is defined as P <0.05. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software, version 16.0 (SPSS, Chicago, Ill, US).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

14381

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Austria
      • Graz, Austria, 8046
        • Medical University of Graz-Austria: Department of Dermatology

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 95 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Consecutive, unselected adult (18 years or more) patients with any skin disorders. Skin disorder must be localized on a limited body area and should NOT require total body skin examination (TBSE) to be diagnosed and/or treated.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who ask for or need TBSE as the main reason for consultation. A patient must be also excluded if a significant part of the body should be undressed for diagnosis and/or treatment (i.e. if the shirt or trousers should be removed for diagnosis and/or treatment, then the patient must be excluded).
  • patients under the age of 18 years.
  • patients who do not agree to get TBSE.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Skin cancer screening
Other: Inspection of covered areas
Clinicans performed a two-step examination for skin cancer, with clinical examination of individual lesions was aided by the use of dermoscopy, as needed. In the first step, physicians performed inspection of problem areas and uncovered areas only, and lesions suggestive of melanoma or non-melanoma skin cancer were noted. In the second step, TBSE was performed. Following both examinations, lesions suggestive of melanoma or non-melanoma skin cancer were excised or biopsied. Histopathologic diagnosis was recorded for each of the biopsied or excised lesions.
Other Names:
  • Inspection of problem areas

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Number of Participants With Suspicious Tumors Detected After Inspection of Problem Area and Inspection of the Full Body.
Time Frame: one year
one year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Whether a Systematic Screening is Related to a Higher Number of Unnecessary Excisions of Benign Skin Tumors Detected During the Screening.
Time Frame: one year
one year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Medical University of Graz

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Rainer Hofmann-Wellenhof, Prof., Medical University of Graz, Austria
  • Principal Investigator: Giuseppe Argenziano, Prof., University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli"

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

May 1, 2008

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 14, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 1, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

October 2, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 15, 2010

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 14, 2010

Last Verified

April 1, 2010

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 19-175 ex 07/08

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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