Incidence and characteristics of thick second primary melanomas: a study of the German Central Malignant Melanoma Registry.

Regular total body skin examinations enable a highly efficient detection of early-stage melanomas and reduction of thick melanomas as compared to first primary melanomas. Our data indicate that fast-growing melanomas without opportunity of early detection are rare and cannot explain the stable incidence of thick melanomas. This highlights the importance of close-meshed total body skin examinations in patient groups that are at high risk of first or multiple primary melanomas.