Start Seeing Melanoma™ is presented by The War on Melanoma™. The War on Melanoma™ is an all-fronts effort to eliminate melanoma as a cause of death, primarily focusing on the link between early detection of melanoma leading to improved survivorship. This effort is led by principal investigator Sancy Leachman, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Dermatology at OHSU and the Melanoma Program Director of Knight Cancer Institute.

The War on Melanoma™ brings science, technology, and public health outreach together with patients, families and care providers with the goal of ending deaths from this form of cancer.

Most death is preventable with education and screening. When melanoma is found and treated early, the chances for survival are excellent. Like other cancers, the further melanoma progresses, the harder it is to treat. Five-year survival rates for patients with early stage (Stage I melanoma) are greater than 90% to 95%. When melanoma is discovered after it spreads, or metastasizes, survival rates can drop to 25% and the treatments are difficult and very expensive.

Learn more on the War on Melanoma™

Read: Can a Broad Early Detection Experiment Succeed in Improving Melanoma Outcomes? (Medpagetoday; ASCO)

SEER Cancer Melanoma Stats: https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/melan.html