Abstract
Objective
To identify the change in the incidence of cutaneous melanoma over time among young
adults.
Patients and Methods
Using Rochester Epidemiology Project data, we identified patients aged 18 to 39 years
who had a first lifetime diagnosis of melanoma from January 1, 1970, through December
31, 2009, in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Demographic and clinical information, including
survival, was abstracted, and estimates of the incidence of melanoma and overall and
disease-specific survival were generated.
Results
From 1970 to 2009, the incidence of melanoma increased by 8-fold among young women
and 4-fold among young men. Overall and disease-specific survival seemed to improve
over time; hazard ratios comparing year of diagnosis with mortality were 0.92 and
0.91, respectively.
Conclusion
The incidence of cutaneous melanoma among young adults is rapidly increasing, especially
among women. Continued close monitoring of this high-risk population is necessary.
Abbreviations and Acronyms:
CI (confidence interval), REP (Rochester Epidemiology Project), SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article Info
Footnotes
Grant Support: A portion of this work was supported in party by National Institutes of Health grant and the Rochester Epidemiology Project (grant number R01-AG034676 ; Principal Investigator: Walter A. Rocca, MD, MPH). Dr Brewer is a recipient of a Dermatology Foundation Career Development Award for the study of lymphoma-associated skin cancer.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
