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 Researchers now estimate that one in 54 Americans will develop
invasive melanoma – the rarest and deadliest type of skin cancer –
in their lifetime. That’s up from a 2009 estimate of one in 58.
“Physicians have improved their ability to identify melanomas in the
past 30 years . . . but this alone likely does not explain the
increased number of melanomas,” said study coauthor Dr. Alex Glazer,
a physician based in New York City who is affiliated with the
National Society for Cutaneous Medicine.
“Despite public health measures and warnings people still get a high
level of UV exposure from the sun and tanning beds which is likely
contributing to the increased incidence,” Glazer added by email.
The steady rise in melanoma diagnoses and deaths in the U.S. over
the past few decades mirrors trends seen worldwide, researchers note
in JAMA Dermatology.
For the current study, Glazer, along with coauthor Dr. Aaron Farberg
of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and
their colleagues, examined melanoma trends in the U.S. since 2009,
when they last reported on incidence and mortality rates.
During the study period, melanoma incidence rates for every 100,000
people climbed from 22.2 to 23.6, or a compound annual increase of
about 1 percent.
Diagnosis rates for early-stage tumors confined to the outer layers
of the skin, known as in situ melanoma, rose more rapidly, with
annual increases of about 3 percent a year.
At the same time, after accounting for population shifts, the annual
number of deaths from melanoma rose 1.5 percent a year, the
researchers estimate.
Because diagnosis rates aren’t rising as quickly as fatalities, it’s
possible the study findings don’t reflect recent efforts aimed at
earlier detection and treatment of these tumors, the authors note.
“The incidences of melanoma in situ (the earliest form of melanoma)
and thin invasive tumors are increasing at a faster rate than that
of thicker tumors, and the five-year survival rates are also
improving, which is likely due to more melanomas being diagnosed at
earlier stages,” said Dr. Elizabeth Martin, of Pure Dermatology and
Aesthetics and the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of
Medicine.
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“Early detection is the key to curing melanoma,” Martin, who wasn’t
involved in the study, said by email.
Minimizing exposure to UV rays from the sun and tanning beds can
largely prevent melanoma, and fatalities can often be averted with
regular skin checks at the dermatologist, Farberg told Reuters
Health.
“Adopting sun-protective behavior is still a work-in-progress, and
the prior generations were already exposed to high levels of sun UV
radiation throughout their lives,” Farberg said by email. “Indoor
tanning has also led to an increase in exposure in some subsets of
the population.”
Because older Americans may have grown up without an emphasis on sun
protection and melanoma prevention, it may take time for habits
adopted by younger people to influence diagnosis or death rates,
said Dr. David Leffell of Yale School of Medicine in New Haven,
Connecticut.
“I think sun exposure earlier in life in the baby boomer population
is coming home to roost,” Leffell, who wasn’t involved in the study,
said by email.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2hdZ3Eb JAMA Dermatology, online December 21,
2016.
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