Nationwide Trends in the Incidence of Melanoma and Non-melanoma Skin Cancers from 1999 to 2014 in South Korea

Abstract

PurposeThis descriptive study was aimed to examine trends in the incidence of melanoma and nonmelanoma in South Korea.Materials and MethodsThe nationwide incidence data for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer was obtained from the Korea Central Cancer Registry. Age-standardized rates were calculated and analyzed, using a Joinpoint regression model.ResultsThe incidence of basal cell carcinoma has increased dramatically both in men (average annual percentage change [AAPC], 8.0 [95% confidence interval (CI), 6.0 to 10.1]) and women (AAPC, 9.0 [95% CI, 7.5 to 10.4]). Squamous cell carcinoma has also steadily increased both in men (AAPC, 3.3 [95% CI, 2.6 to 4.0]) and women (AAPC, 6.8 [95% CI, 5.3 to 8.4]). Cutaneous melanoma increased continuously from 1999 to 2014 inwomen (AAPC, 3.5 [95% CI, 2.4 to 4.6]), whilst rapidly increasing in men until 2005 (APC, 7.9 [95% CI, 2.4 to 13.7]) after which no increase has been observed (APC, ‒0.2 [95% CI, ‒2.3 to 2.0]).ConclusionThe incidence rates of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer have increased over the past years, with the exception of melanoma in men. Further studies are required to investigate the reasons for the increased incidence of these skin cancers in South Korea.

Efficacy and clinical significance of omitting blue dye injection during sentinel lymph node biopsy before Mohs micrographic surgery for malignant melanoma of the lower extremities

“…The cohort of the present study can be considered representative of patients undergoing SLNB for melanoma in Asia, as the demographic distributions, tumour depths, Breslow thicknesses and tumour locations were consistent with data from previous studies in Korea and other Asian countries . Our data show that performing SLNB while omitting blue dye injection can still yield a high biopsy success rate (98%) that is similar to the 95–100% detection rate achieved in previous studies that used a combination of LSG and blue dye injection, and is higher than rates reported when using blue dye injection alone (52–95%) …”

“…In Korea and neighbouring Asian countries, the majority of patients with MM have ALMs on their extremities, particularly the lower ones . ALMs usually go unnoticed until their late stage owing to their anatomical location; therefore, they tend to have poor prognoses .…”

“…In Korea and neighbouring Asian countries, the majority of patients with MM have ALMs on their extremities, particularly the lower ones. 12 ALMs usually go unnoticed until their late stage owing to their anatomical location; therefore, they tend to have poor prognoses. 13 The accurate estimation of ALM margins is difficult for minimally pigmented lesions that are blurred by the overlying stratum corneum owing to their clinicopathological features.…”

Occupational differences in standardized mortality ratios for non‐melanotic skin cancer and melanoma in exposed areas among individuals with Fitzpatrick skin types III and IV

“…Although the ICD‐10 system does not distinguish BCC from squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) under “C44,” location of the neoplasm can be determined using three‐digit ICD‐10 codes. Skin cancer of face and neck generally was regarded as sun‐exposed areas . Thus, we divided skin cancer into exposed and unexposed areas to evaluate the effect of UVB (Table ).…”

“…Skin cancer of face and neck generally was regarded as sun-exposed areas. 23 Thus, we divided skin cancer into exposed and unexposed areas to evaluate the effect of UVB (Table 1).…”