Clinical Epidemiology of Invasive Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma in the Austrian Province Styria in the Years 2001–2003 and Its Relationship with Local Geographical, Meteorological and Economic Data

Abstract

Background:Melanoma incidence rates vary within Europe. The highest incidences are reported in Scandinavia, the lowest in the southern parts, but incidences themselves also vary within the different countries. Objective:We investigated the incidence of invasive cutaneous melanoma in Styria, a province of Austria, in the years 2001–2003. Methods:Data from 1,082 patients, 511 males and 571 females (mean age 58.2 years) with primary melanoma were collected. For each patient, information regarding residence was available, and therefore the geographic distribution of melanoma on district level was investigated with particular reference to the mean number of sun hours, mean altitude, number of companies with more than 200 employees and median income. Results:The mean annual incidence (age-standardized rate) was 24.5 per 100,000 (95% CI: 22.4–26.6), lifetime risk 1 in 52. Districts with a higher number of sun hours and higher altitude showed lower melanoma incidences. Higher median income was associated with higher melanoma incidence (p < 0.001). Conclusion:The high incidence of invasive melanoma in Styria is unclear and a causal relationship between higher income and melanoma incidence remains speculative. Further investigations, especially concerning lifestyle and environmental factors, may unravel additional causative factors.

Temporal and Spatial Melanoma Trends in Austria: An Ecological Study

“…Currently, the Austrian cancer registry is supposed to be 94.2% complete for all included types of cancer overall [26]. However, according to Richtig and co-workers hospitals located in the Austrian federal country of Styria did not fully report melanoma cases for several years [32,33]. …”

“…Single town districts and the city districts of Vienna were each indicated by a dummy variable discerning 84 “rural districts”, 14 “urban districts” and 23 “districts of Vienna”. (4) “Styrian factor” (for incidence data only): Because of the clear evidence of under-reporting in Styria, a special dummy was introduced for the 17 Styrian districts [32,33]. Based on inspection of the raw data and communication with Statistics Austria, this dummy flag was set for Styrian districts before the year 2005.…”

Reproducibilidad de un instrumento para evaluar factores de riesgo de cáncer de piel

“…Gracias a la revisión de la literatura y el grupo focal con expertos, pudimos incluir variables relevantes en nuestro entorno, como la vida en área rural o la altura sobre el nivel del mar del municipio donde ha vivido el individuo, esta última muy importante, teniendo en cuenta que en Colombia hay pisos térmicos y se ha descrito un incremento del 12 % de RUV recibidos por cada 1000 metros de aumento en la altura sobre el nivel del mar [20,24].…”

Malignant melanoma arising in the skin lesions of Nagashima-type palmoplantar keratosis

“…The lesions were transgressive to the dorsal surface of the feet and hands (figures 1A-B). A few cases of MM arising within the lesions of PPK have been reported in the skin lesions of Papillon-Lefèvre, Vorner-, Unna-Thost-, and mal de Meleda-type PPK [6,7]. There was no consanguinity in the patient's family The patient noticed a pigmented macule on her left hand four months before her visit to our clinic.…”

“…Various factors have been found to have significant associations with the generation of MM, including high weight-bearing sites, sun exposure, imbalanced skin immunity and genetic predisposition [7]. Various factors have been found to have significant associations with the generation of MM, including high weight-bearing sites, sun exposure, imbalanced skin immunity and genetic predisposition [7].…”