Dermatologists show highest melanoma diagnostic performance with AI support

• A study suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) showed comparable performance to dermatologists in detecting melanoma, with similar sensitivity and specificity in prospective clinical studies.
• However, AI demonstrated a higher specificity in direct comparisons, suggesting it may help reduce unnecessary biopsies by better identifying benign lesions.
• The combination of dermatologists using dermoscopy with AI support showed the highest diagnostic performance.
• Despite the promising results, current evidence remains limited and potentially biased, highlighting the need for larger, real-world studies before widely adopting AI in clinical practice.

Experts often consider melanoma to be the most serious type of skin cancer due to the likelihood of metastasizing. Evidence suggests that roughly 112,000 Americans receive a diagnosis of melanoma each year, and more than 1.5 million people in the U.S. are living with melanoma.

While only accounting for about 1% of skin cancers, melanoma causes a large majority of skin cancer deaths.

Early detection of melanoma can be critical, as the 5-year survival rate for early melanoma is 94%. A common approach for detection is via a dermatologist’s diagnosis. However, reliance on specialists can make it difficult for people to receive a timely diagnosis.

Tools such as a dermatoscope can greatly improve the accuracy of skin cancer detection among dermatology clinicians. However, could AI further improve detection rates?

A study, published in JAMA Dermatology, suggests that AI may soon play a larger role in melanoma detection. However, the research team cautions that more rigorous testing is still necessary before widespread adoption in routine care.