Skin Cancer Detection Apps: How Reliable Are They?

Also read: Types of skin cancer: which spots are potentially malignant?

Skin cancer apps SkinVision, Huidmonitor and Medgic

• SkinVision: this app identified the two spots as suspicious and also incorrectly saw many more spots as skin cancer. SkinVision therefore quickly sends you to the GP. The Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven also conducted research into the SkinVision app and concludes that the results of the software “approach the average eye of a dermatologist”.
• Skin Monitor: Skin Monitor also indicated the two spots as suspicious. With Skin Monitor, it is not the app but the user who judges whether a spot is suspicious. You have to compare a photo of the spot with example photos. This judgement is usually better than with SkinVision. The downside is that the test subjects felt uncertain when judging the spots themselves.
• Medgic: The Medgic app gave an unclear result for the two skin spots, but also for many of the other spots. For example, a mole was diagnosed as 'benign or malignant', or the app gave four different diagnoses for a spot. It also happened that a spot was diagnosed as unknown.

Also read: Check yourself for skin cancer: what should you look out for?

Also read: Recognizing melanoma: what are the symptoms?

Supplement to doctor's visit

Ultimately, the majority of the participants in the study indicated that they would rather go to their GP with a suspicious skin spot than assess it themselves. Rightly so, as it turns out, because in three participants the dermatologist discovered skin cancer in a place that they had overlooked or assessed incorrectly.

It is positive that medical apps allow you to take your health into your own hands to some extent. Such an app can be supportive and a good addition to a visit to the doctor. Dermatologist Thomas Maselis, the Belgian chairman of Euromelanoma says: “The advantage of such an app is that you can ask for advice quickly and at any time. The app also invites you at regular intervals to check your skin. But of course the analysis is based on a photo, which is not always reliable.”

Some health insurances provide for a partial refund of service, purchase and/or subscription costs. This only applies to apps that are recognized by mHealthBelgium.

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