Cutaneous Melanoma in a Multiethnic Population

Abstract

Hypothesis: Cutaneous melanoma in nonwhite persons has a manifestation and a prognosis that are different than those of cutaneous melanoma in white persons. Design: Case series. Setting: Tertiary care university-affiliated community medical center located in a multiethnic state in which white persons are a minority of the population.

California Medicaid Enrollment and Melanoma Stage at Diagnosis

“…11 Previous studies have reported that Hispanics, Asians, and blacks have higher rates of latestage melanoma at diagnosis than whites. 3,5,23 In this contemporary Californian population, Hispanics and blacks had significantly higher unadjusted odds of late-stage melanoma at diagnosis than whites. After covariate adjustment, the likelihood for late-stage disease among blacks remained marginally significant, while the likelihood among Hispanics was substantially attenuated.…”

“…While an increased incidence of melanoma is associated with markers of higher SES, a more-advanced stage at diagnosis is associated with lower SES. 2 The risk of late-stage melanoma also varies by race/ethnicity, with African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics at higher risk than non-Hispanic whites, [3][4][5] although melanoma is much less likely to occur in these groups. However, race/ethnicity does not appear to entirely mitigate socioeconomic disparities in late-stage melanoma.…”

Melanoma in Maori, Asian, and Pacific Peoples in New Zealand

“…Data for the Breslow thickness of melanoma are often not available, but some studies in the United States have found a similar pattern with melanomas being deeper in nonwhites and thinner in whites (12,15,22). U.S. blacks and Hispanics are also more likely to have advanced-stage disease at presentation compared with white-skinned ethnicities (3,12,23).…”

Comparison of Characteristics and Survival of Colorectal Cancer Between Japanese-Americans in Hawaii and Native Japanese in Japan

“…On the other hand, there have been a few scattered reports describing different survivals in certain diseases among races. Hemmings et al 2 reported that there was significant difference in overall survival for cutaneous melanoma among the white patients and the nonwhite patients. The nonwhite patients were diagnosed with melanoma at a more advanced stage and had worse survival than the white patients, because the white patients had more cutaneous melanomas arising on the skin of the head and neck, trunk, or extremities, which could be easily detected.…”