Older adults, men at increased risk for second primary melanoma diagnosis
Source: Healio, March 2024
Key takeaways:
- Patients aged 40 years and younger saw longer interval times between melanoma incidences vs. patients aged 50 to 59 years and 80 years or older.
- Men experienced shorter interval times than women.
Following a first primary invasive melanoma diagnosis, older adults and men may experience a second case sooner than other patients, according to a study.
“The steep increase in the incidence of cutaneous melanoma, along with larger numbers of melanomas being diagnosed at earlier stages, and improvements in melanoma treatment have resulted in an expanding population of melanoma survivors over the past decade,” Reza Ghiasvand, PhD, senior researcher at the Oslo Center for Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Oslo University Hospital, Norway, and colleagues wrote. “These patients are at risk of developing subsequent melanomas during their lifetime, although the reported risk of second primary melanoma from different studies varies substantially.”