Skin cancer should be classified as ‘chronic’

Leading Dutch dermatologists have urged colleagues and health services to devise strategies to treat skin cancer as a chronic disease.
“To manage the future costs and quality of care for patients with skin cancer, a revised health strategy is needed,” according to Dr Simone van der Geer, of Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, and colleagues. “These new strategies should be combined into a disease management system that organises healthcare for one well-documented healthcare problem using a systematic approach.”

The doctors added that the application of disease management systems can assist in the prevention of, education about and treatment of skin cancer. “The disease management system is embedded within a supportive overall organisation structure, which is based on firm financial support that must be available for all aspects of the system, including prevention-based efforts,” they said.
“Skin cancer needs to be regarded as a chronic disease and should not be considered a solitary event requiring the treatment of one tumour,” the doctors concluded.
“Combining these strategies in a disease management system will lead to efficient, evidence-based, high-quality care to help dermatologists deal proactively with chronic diseases such as skin cancer.”
Archives of Dermatology 2010;146:332-336