Hispanic Men With Melanoma Have Reduced Survival, Disease-Specific Disparities
Source: Dermatology Advisor, August 2024
Hispanic men with cutaneous melanoma receive melanoma diagnoses at an older age, show advanced-stage disease, present with melanoma of the trunk rather than lower extremities, and have reduced disease-specific survival when compared with Hispanic women with melanoma, according to study results published in Skin Health and Disease.
In a retrospective cohort study, investigators examined sex differences in disease presentation and outcomes among Hispanic patients with cutaneous melanoma to determine differences in melanoma characteristics and disease-specific survival among this patient population. They used information from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to identify Hispanic individuals with biopsy-confirmed cutaneous melanoma. Between 2000 and 2020, there were a total of 12,328 diagnosed patients, comprising 56.7% (6994) women and 43.3% (5334) men.
A significant correlation between sex and age (P <.001) was found, with the highest percentage of men falling within the 60 to 79 years age group (39.7%) and with women predominant in the 40 to 59 years age group (39.0%). Sex was significantly linked to the primary tumor site (P <.001). The trunk was the most common site of melanoma in men (31.4%), whereas the lower extremity was a more frequent site of melanoma in women (35.2%).