Clinical Characteristics at the Diagnosis of New Primary Melanoma in Italy: A Multicenter Retrospective Study Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Background/Objectives: During the pandemic, access to healthcare was severely disrupted, inevitably affecting melanoma diagnosis. While this was clearly evident during the pandemic itself, it is less clear whether clinical presentation has returned to baseline levels in subsequent years. Our study aimed to compare the current clinical presentation of melanoma with that in the pre-pandemic setting. Methods: We conducted a retrospective multicenter study involving Italian melanoma referral centers within the SICO network. Patients with a newly diagnosed primary cutaneous melanoma were included in the study and were grouped into four time periods: pre-pandemic (March 2019 to February 2020); pandemic (March 2021 to February 2022); the first post-pandemic year (March 2022 to February 2023); and the second post-pandemic year (March 2023 to February 2024). Our focus was on clinically relevant features at diagnosis, including Breslow thickness, ulceration, stage and sentinel lymph node status. We evaluated differences across periods using regression models that accounted for the multicenter design. Results: A total of 4938 patients were included in the study. Compared with the pre-pandemic period, melanomas diagnosed during and after the pandemic were thicker, more frequently ulcerated and more likely to be in stages II–III. The rate of sentinel lymph node positivity also increased. Notably, these patterns did not normalize over time, remaining evident even in the second post-pandemic year. The results were consistent after adjusting for age and sex. Conclusions: In this large Italian study, melanoma continues to be diagnosed at a later stage than in the pre-pandemic period. This persistent shift may reflect a combination of delayed access to care and ongoing system-level constraints. These findings emphasize the importance of restoring timely access to dermatological evaluation and reinforcing early detection strategies.

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