Incidence of In Situ and Invasive Melanoma in Denmark From 1985 Through 2012

Abstract

the incidence of malignant melanoma (MM) has doubled during the past 25 years, with an incidence of 29.5 and 31.7 per 100 000 person-years in 2012 for men and women, respectively. Understanding the nature of this increase in incidence is important to optimize prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of in situ and invasive melanoma in Denmark. OBJECTIVE To describe changes over time in the incidence and clinical and pathologic characteristics of in situ and invasive melanoma in Denmark from 1985 through 2012. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS We used the official national Danish Melanoma Group database to describe all eligible, prospectively registered cases of in situ and invasive

Sunbed use 2007–2015 and skin cancer projections of campaign results 2007–2040 in the Danish population: repeated cross-sectional surveys

“…A prognosis of the cancer incidence in absolute numbers is difficult to provide as there are unknown indicators, which we were not able to include in the model, like improved diagnostics, equipment, change in strength of the ultraviolet spectrum or output in sunbeds,7 33 or other changes in ultraviolet exposure. As we have used the difference between two cancer incidence rates, this has had minor influence on the results.…”

“…Around 2002–2004 the dermatoscope was introduced among dermatologists in Denmark, which probably increased the rate of detection7 for a while. In the following period a plateau is seen from around 2011 5.…”

“…Similarly, keratinocyte skin cancer incidence increased manifold in the same period. Presumably because of improved primary and secondary prevention, improved diagnostics7 8 and change in sun exposure patterns including increased number of Danes travelling abroad since the 1960s and the introduction and spread of sunbed facilities in the 1980s. Half of the Danish population travels to sunny destinations each year;9 10 approximately 60% have ever used a sunbed11 and 40% were sunburnt annually 9 12…”

The Danish Melanoma Database

“…In case of late recurrence, the registration is resumed. The incidence of melanoma has increased at the rate of 4%–5% per year, and in situ lesions perhaps even more; however, the preliminary result for 2015 for the first time in the history of the database shows a decrease of 4.2% for invasive melanoma, while the in situ lesions still increase with 3.6% 6. The 2014 annual report included 2,525 patients with invasive melanoma and 780 with in situ lesions,4 corresponding to a crude incidence of 44.6/100,000 and 13.8/100,000, respectively, and in the 2013 report, 2,325 patients had invasive melanoma and 505 had in situ melanomas.…”

“…The coverage of all melanomas is now evaluated by comparison to the Danish Pathology Register,7 and the national coverage is 93% 4. In a recent scientific study on the incidence from 1985 to 2012, data from the DMD were compared with melanomas registered in the Danish Cancer Registry 6. This study revealed that the DMD over the years has constantly captured ~80%–90% of cases (Figure 2).…”