Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
At Academic Alliance in Dermatology, we firmly believe that no lives should ever be lost to malignant melanoma. Our staff’s mission is clear: eliminate deaths from melanoma completely through early detection, exceptional dermatological care, and by raising awareness about melanoma prevention and screening methods.
Melanoma is the sixth most common fatal malignancy in the United States. We are seeing a record number of newly diagnosed skin cancers both in the US and worldwide, with the incidence of melanoma increasing at a faster rate than almost all other cancers. Despite the rapid increase in melanoma incidence, we have seen a steady decline in the death rate for melanoma – something attributed in large part to increased focus on early detection. Academic Alliance in Dermatology is leading the extensive efforts for the early detection of Melanoma.
As dermatologists we continue to have the greatest impact on reducing melanoma incidence through improved methods of early diagnosis, applying proven prevention methods and techniques for the wellbeing of our patients. With over 40 trained providers on staff, AAD is leading the efforts to increase the training of health care personnel who play a crucial role in diagnosing and treating patients with melanoma.
Our Melanoma Training Program, spearheaded by Dr. Panos Vasiloudes, has analyzed over 7,500 melanoma cases, with new melanoma cases evaluated every week. These clinical scenarios are shared with industry peers and serve as a critical educational resource to help improve melanoma detection across the country.
Among the Florida community Academic Alliance in Dermatology continues to expand its footprint, with offices spanning from Tampa east to Orlando and all the way south to Naples, providing melanoma screening and treatment access to more and more Floridians.
As an organization we continually work to educate our staff and our patients about melanoma risk factors and prevention tactics, emphasizing the role that family history plays in melanoma risk and focusing attention on co-malignancies while stressing the importance of total body skin exams.
Academic Alliance in Dermatology has refined the ABCDEFGHI criteria for the EARLY detection of melanoma as follows:
A: ANCESTRY ANALYSIS of the whole family, deep to the roots and wide to the branches.
B: BLADE BIOPSY when in doubt; a razor blade biopsy is easy to perform but powerful to make the diagnosis.
C: COLOR & CO-MALIGNANCIES – knowing all malignancies in the family tree is very powerful as the genes can be the same.
D: DERMOSCOPY & DISTRIBUTION – knowing the anatomic site, performing exam with a magnifying glass (dermatoscope).
E: EVOLUTION & EMBRYOLOGY – understanding change and embryologic development.
F: FAMILY TREE & FUNNY LOOK – examine all generations of the family and expand it to even distant relatives.
G: GENERATIONS & GENETICS – understand all genes in every generation causing any type of cancer.
H: HISTORY & HISTOPATHOLOGY – explore every aspect of history and histopathology, the examination of tissue under the microscope.
I: INSTINCT OF THE DOCTOR listen to the patient and follow the instinct of the patient and doctor.
This comprehensive algorithm has shaped our melanoma diagnosis process and serves as a guide for all dermatologists. Part of the AAD research findings were presented at the World Congress of Dermatology in Milano, Italy, in June of 2019, and to this day they serve as a valuable resource for industry peers.
Academic Alliance in Dermatology will continue to deliver quality dermatology care and push forward with efforts to improve the rates of early detection of melanoma, catching the disease when it is in its earliest and most curable form. We ask you to join us in this mission to FIGHT MELANOMA!
(941) 800-5001
www.AcademicAllDerm.com
