Sabrina Reid, a Williams College premedical student, brought this article to our attention. "The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) says there isn't enough evidence for or against the skin cancer checks during which you or your doctor looks for changes in the color, size and texture of skin growths.
"This task force makes recommendations about the effectiveness of medical treatments every five to seven years to U.S. primary-care doctors. When it reviewed the latest data on whole body exams, the panel didn’t find evidence that they reduced mortality from skin cancer or the disease's spread. And it found that there are few studies of how accurately docs identify suspicious moles in real patients, rather than in photos. The task force recommends better research.
"There isn’t consensus about whether screening is beneficial or not. And there isn’t consistency about how frequently or which populations" should get checked, Wolff tells ScientificAmerican.com. "It points to the limited evidence in this area."
[Of course, this holds true for other screenings as well. It is also unclear if colonoscopy is any better than tests for stool ocult blood -- but your gastroenterologist will lead you to think differenctly. PSA is not recommended as a screening test for men over age seventy. Caveat emptor. Remember, "Every peddler praises his needles."