Age-Specific Incidence of Melanoma in the United States

Abstract

IMPORTANCE Melanoma is epidemiologically linked to UV exposure, particularly childhood sunburn. Public health campaigns are increasing sun-protective behavior in the United States, but the effect on melanoma incidence is unknown. OBJECTIVE To examine the incidence of melanoma in the United States and whether any age-specific differences are present. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Observational, population-based registry data were extracted on July 3, 2018, from the combined National Program of Cancer Registries-Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results United States Cancer Statistics database for 2001-2015. Deidentified data for 988 103 cases of invasive melanoma, with International Classification of Diseases for Oncology histologic categorization codes 8720 to 8790, were used for analysis. Data analysis was performed from July 1, 2018, to March 1, 2019. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The annual rates of melanoma in pediatric, adolescent, young adult, and adult age groups were determined. Analyses were stratified by sex, and incidence rates were age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population. Annual percentage change (APC) in incidence rate was calculated over the most recent decade for which data were available (2006-2015) using the weighted least squares method. RESULTS In 2015, 83 362 cases of invasive melanoma were reported in the United States, including 67 in children younger than 10 years, 251 in adolescents (10-19 years), and 1973 in young adults (20-29 years). Between 2006 and 2015, the overall incidence rate increased from 200.1 to 229.1 cases per million person-years. In adults aged 40 years or older, melanoma rates increased by an APC of 1.8% in both men (95% CI, 1.4%-2.1%) and women (95% CI, 1.4%-2.2%). In contrast, clinically and statistically significant decreases were seen in melanoma incidence for adolescents and young adults. Specifically, incidence rates decreased by an APC of −4.4% for male adolescents (95% CI, −1.7% to −7.0%), −5.4% for female adolescents (95% CI, −3.3% to −7.4%), −3.7% for male young adults (95% CI, −2.5% to −4.8%), and −3.6% for female young adults (95% CI, −2.8% to −4.5%). Data on skin pigmentation and sun protection history were unavailable; similar trends were observed with data limited to non-Hispanic whites. Young adult women appeared to have twice the risk of melanoma as young adult men. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The incidence of invasive melanoma in the United States appeared to decrease in adolescents and young adults from 2006 to 2015, and this finding contrasted with increases in older populations. These incidence trends suggest that public health efforts may be favorably influencing melanoma incidence in the United States.

Mid‐term trends and recent birth‐cohort‐dependent changes in incidence rates of cutaneous malignant melanoma in Italy

“…12 In the following decade, significant decreases were seen among young adults. 18 In detail, the risk increased for successive cohorts of non-Hispanic whites born between 1921 and 1981 before starting to decrease. 19 As regards Europe, the incidence increase has been generalised in the last 50 and more years.…”

Identification of key genes and pathways for melanoma in the TRIM family

“…1 Melanoma is a disease that involves multistep, multifactorial regulation of complex signal transduction. [2][3][4] The molecular mechanism of its development has been widely studied. The tripartite motif-containing (TRIM) proteins regulate the occurrence, invasion, and apoptosis of certain tumors.…”

Epidemiology and Survival Outcomes for Eyelid Primary Malignant Melanoma: An Analysis of 1397 Cases in the SEER Database

“…Cutaneous eyelid melanoma accounts for a small proportion of the estimated 96,480 new cases of cutaneous melanoma in the United States in 2019 [ 19 , 20 ]. The rising incidence of cutaneous melanoma was reported by Paulson et al [ 21 ] and Yang et al [ 22 ]. Previous studies reported the age-adjusted incidence of eyelid melanoma: 0.08 cases per 100 000 individuals per year from 1976 through 1990 by Cook et al 0.6 per million Whites older than 20 years in the 1990s by Margo et al 0.1 per 100 000 overall in Ireland from 2005 to 2015 by Quigley et al [ 8 , 23 , 24 ].…”