Melanoma mortality rates are rising in men but static or declining in women

Glasgow, UK: Malignant melanoma death rate among men has increased worldwide, while in some countries the rate is stable or decreasing among women, according to a study presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference in 2018.

Researchers looked at global mortality data collected by the World Health Organization, focusing on 33 countries with the most reliable data. They found that melanoma mortality rates among men were rising in all but one country.

In their opinion, more research is needed to understand the reason for this trend, but in the meantime more targeted public health efforts on men may be needed. Awareness of Illness and Smart Behaviors Facing the Sun

The work was presented by Dr. Dorothy Yang, a young doctor at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, UK. "The main risk factor for melanoma is overexposure to ultraviolet radiation, whether through exposure to the sun or through the use of sunbeds." Despite public health efforts to promote melanoma awareness and encourage Solar intelligence behaviors, the incidence of melanoma has increased in recent decades.However, new reports have revealed signs of stabilization and decrease in melanoma mortality rates in countries such as Australia. and Northern Europe.

"We wanted to make an up-to-date badysis of recent melanoma mortality rates around the world in order to understand these trends and determine whether new strategies for diagnosis, treatment and prevention are having an effect. any. "

The researchers studied age-standardized mortality rates in the 33 countries from 1985 to 2015. These rates take into account the effects of some countries an aging population and others younger, who have extracted Malignant melanoma rates, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, have reduced rates for both men and women and examined trends over time.

In all countries, rates were higher for men than for women Overall, the highest three-year average mortality rates from 2013 to 2015 were observed in Australia (5.72 per 100,000 men and 2.53 per 100,000 women) and in Slovenia (3.86 for men and 2.58 for women), the lowest in Japan (0.24 per cent), men and 0.18 women.

The Czech Republic is the only country where researchers found a decrease in the melanoma mortality rate in men, with a estimated annual percentage decrease of 0.7% between 1985 and 2015. Israel and the Czech Republic Female mortality rates recorded the largest decreases of 23.4% and 15.5% respectively.

Dr. Yang added, "More research is needed to explore the underlying factors behind these trends, and there is every reason to believe that men are less likely to protect themselves from the sun or participate in sensitization and education campaigns. Melanoma prevention Work is also underway to investigate the biological factors underlying the difference in mortality rates between men and women. "

Dr. Yang said that she and her colleagues will continue to examine the data to see if they can identify factors that may help explain the differences.

Poulam Patel is Chair of the CNRI Skin Cancer Clinical Group, Professor of Clinical Oncology at the University of Nottingham. not involved in the research. "This study shows that melanoma mortality rates are stabilizing or decreasing in some countries, especially women, but in almost all countries the mortality rate has increased in the last 30 years among men. [19659002] "These findings also suggest that melanoma will remain a health problem in the coming years and that we will need to find effective strategies for accurately diagnosing and successfully treating patients."

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