Background: While many melanomas and other skin cancers are detected early, the current approach to screening and early detection is mostly ad hoc and inequitable, relying on individuals or their doctors to identify their personal risk and initiate skin checks. In January 2025, an Australian Government grant was awarded to Melanoma Institute Australia to lead the development of a Roadmap for a National Targeted Skin Cancer Screening Program.
Objectives: The Roadmap aims to set out an evidence-based program for screening that will target those in the population at highest risk of developing melanoma and will be equitable in its reach, trustworthy for patients and clinicians and cost-effective for the community and the healthcare system.
Methods: From 2025-2028, Melanoma Institute Australia is working in collaboration with Cancer Australia, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, clinicians, clinical and other health colleges and associations, researchers, consumers, primary health care networks and the states and territories to gather the evidence and develop consensus recommendations for how a screening program could work.
Results: This presentation will discuss the Roadmap processes and preliminary evidence gathered to date to support recommendations for the design of the different elements of a targeted screening program. These elements include selecting the most appropriate risk assessment tool/s to identify who would be invited for screening, what the screening intervention would be, and how screening would be delivered. Recommendations will also be made for how those who are identified as having a potentially concerning lesion would be clinically assessed and followed up. Assessments will be made in relation to how the benefits of the screening program could be maximised, and the potential harms minimised. The required infrastructure, data management, funding mechanisms and health economic modelling will also be analysed to design a feasible, robust, and cost-effective Program. Stakeholders from all possible touchpoints along a potential screening pathway will be meaningfully and frequently consulted by the Roadmap teams to seek their input, insights and feedback to ensure a feasible and sustainable screening program can be designed.
Implications for policy: This Roadmap addresses inequities and inefficiencies in the early detection of melanoma and may lead to a new targeted cancer screening program in Australia.