# MoleMate UK Trial

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/molemate/  
OnCo record `molemate` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The trial that tested whether giving GPs a diagnostic gadget would make their skin cancer referrals better, found that it made them more numerous instead, and is the reason the NHS asks for training and dermoscopy rather than devices in primary care.

## Summary

MoleMate randomised 1,297 adults with 1,580 pigmented lesions across fifteen practices in eastern England. The primary outcome was the appropriateness of referral, measured as the proportion of referred lesions that were then biopsied or monitored in secondary care. It did not differ: 56.8 percent (130 of 229) with MoleMate against 64.5 percent (111 of 172) with best practice alone, a difference of minus 8.1 percentage points with a 95 percent confidence interval of minus 18.0 to 1.8.

What did differ was volume and agreement. A higher proportion of lesions was referred with the device, 29.8 percent against 22.4 percent, and agreement with an expert assessment that the lesion was benign was significantly lower, 84.4 percent against 90.6 percent. Thirty-six histologically confirmed melanomas were diagnosed and the 18 in the intervention arm were all appropriately referred. The lesson the NHS took is visible in current policy: NG12 recommendation 1.7.2 asks for dermoscopy where it is available, the timed pathway asks cancer alliances to train primary care in dermoscopy rather than to buy devices, and the device question has moved to artificial intelligence applied to images taken after referral rather than to a gadget in the consulting room.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: negative
- Last checked: 2026-09-25
- Also known as: ISRCTN79932379; SIAscopy with primary care scoring algorithm
- Tags: uk; skin; early-detection; primary-care
- Registry id: ISRCTN79932379
- Phase: 3
- Setting: Fifteen general practices in eastern England: adults with a pigmented skin lesion not immediately diagnosed as benign, assessed by trained primary care clinicians using best practice (history, naked-eye examination and the weighted 7-point checklist) either alone or with the MoleMate system added
- Sponsor: University of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire NHS Primary Care Trust, funded by the NIHR
- Enrolled: 1297
- Result: No difference in the appropriateness of referral (56.8 percent against 64.5 percent) and more lesions referred with the device (29.8 percent against 22.4 percent) (BMJ 2012).

## Sources

- BMJ 2012 (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e4110
- ISRCTN79932379: https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN79932379

## Connected records

- cancers: [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Skin cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/skin-cancer/)
- institutions: [Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals](https://onco.cc/institutions/addenbrookes-cambridge/)

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