Melanoma Mortality Trends in 28 European Countries: A Retrospective Analysis for the Years 1960–2020

Abstract

Background: In 2020, in 27 European Union (EU) Member States, melanoma accounted for 4% of all new cancer cases and 1.3% of all cancer deaths, making melanoma the fifth most common malignancy and placing it in the 15 most frequent causes of cancer deaths in the EU-27. The main aim of our study was to investigate melanoma mortality trends in 25 EU Member States and three non-EU countries (Norway, Russia, and Switzerland) in a broad time perspective (1960–2020) in a younger (45–74 years old) vs. older age group (75+). Methods: We identified melanoma deaths defined by ICD-10 codes C-43 for individuals aged 45–74 and 75+ years old between 1960–2020 in 25 EU Member States (excluding Iceland, Luxembourg, and Malta) and in 3 non-EU countries—Norway, Russia, and Switzerland. Age-standardized melanoma mortality rates (ASR) were computed using the direct age-standardization for Segi’s World Standard Population. To determine melanoma-mortality trends with 95% confidence intervals (CI), Joinpoint regression was applied. Our analysis used the Join-point Regression Program, version 4.3.1.0 (National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA). Results: Regardless of the considered age groups, in all investigated countries, in general, melanoma standardized mortality rates were higher for men than women. Considering the age group 45–74, the highest number of countries was characterized by decreasing melanoma-mortality trends in both sexes—14 countries. Contrarily, the highest representation of countries in the age group 75+ was connected with increasing melanoma-mortality trends in both sexes—26 countries. Moreover, considering the older age group—75+—there was no country with a decreasing melanoma mortality in both sexes. Conclusions: Investigated melanoma-mortality trends vary in individual countries and age groups; however, a highly concerning phenomenon—increasing melanoma-mortality rates in both sexes—was observed in 7 countries for the younger age group and in as many as 26 countries for the older age group. There is a need for coordinated public-health actions to address this issue.

Training Family Medicine Residents in Dermoscopy Using an e-Learning Course: Pilot Interventional Study

“…The ones who reported knowing how to use a dermatoscope before training did not perform any better than others. This is consistent with the fact that providing a dermatoscope without training to all family doctors would not improve skin cancer screening [ 2 , 8 , 10 ]. Students interested in dermatology and those who had completed a dermatology rotation during their medical school (which probably overlapped) performed better on the pretest of the first module.…”

“…Three-month scores greatly improved in 92.1% (n=82) and 87.3% (n=55) of participants for module 1 and module 2, respectively. Dermoscopy training studies often focus on melanoma detection and are expected to improve sensitivity between 13% and 15%, with no improvement in specificity [ 2 ]. In the case of multitopic courses such as this study, a published 2-day multitopic dermoscopy training course (melanoma, angioma, seborrheic keratosis, and cutaneous carcinoma) for primary care physicians improved sensitivity by 23.6% and specificity by 21% [ 20 ].…”

“…The number of new cases of cutaneous melanoma per year is expected to increase by more than 50% from 2020 to 2040 [ 1 ]. In the European Union, skin melanoma accounted for 4% of all new cancers diagnosed in 2020 and 1.3% of all deaths due to cancer [ 2 ]. Risk factors are individual (light phototype, age, male sex, personal history of skin cancer or predisposing skin lesions, and family history of melanoma) and environmental (prolonged sun exposure, artificial tanning, immunosuppression, and lower socioeconomic class) [ 3 ].…”

Current knowledge about immunotherapy resistance for melanoma and potential predictive and prognostic biomarkers

“…In contrast, melanoma in China is relatively rare, leading to delayed diagnoses and treatments. Statistical reports from 2022 indicate approximately 8,800 new cases and 5,400 deaths in China, accounting for 61% of the cases [3] . Meantime, melanoma has emerged as the fifth most prevalent cancer in the European Union (EU) since 2020, representing 4% of new cancer cases and 1.3% of all cancer deaths.…”

“…Meantime, melanoma has emerged as the fifth most prevalent cancer in the European Union (EU) since 2020, representing 4% of new cancer cases and 1.3% of all cancer deaths. Notably, the mortality rate in men exceeds that in women [ 4 ] . The factor that is considered to be the most common cause of melanoma cancer is thought to be ultraviolet rays (UV) [ 5 ] .…”